Silent Rivalry
by Sir Gar the Bold
Summary: Ashley is a hyperactive teenager who can't wait to get her first Pokémon. Follow her as she begins her journey through the land of Pokémon, starting only with one Pokémon and an almost mute friendrival. Noncanonical. Ashley IS NOT related to Ash Ketchum.
1. First Steps

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, though if I did, I'd be filthy stinkin' rich!

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"For the last time, Ashley, get up!" I groaned, rolled over, and threw the pillow in my father's general direction. "Don't you know what day it is?"

I groaned again, mentally speeding through dates in my brain. _Dad's birthday? Nah, that was last week. Mom's birthday? Nope, that's three months from now. Richard's birthday? That's not for… Okay, I did not just think that. What is it?_

I heard an excited voice from outside my window. Well, more like an annoying voice drilled itself into my brain and insisted on giving me as large a headache as possible. "Whoopee! C'mon, mommy, hurry! I don't want to miss it!"

"Relax, Jimmy. I'm sure there'll be plenty of Pokémon left when we get there," another voice said.

I almost fell back to sleep when that the woman had said entered my brain. "I'M GETTING A POKEMON TODAY!"

"Not if you don't get ready, young lady," my mother said, passing by my door.

I growled, shot out of bed, and slammed my door shut. I took off into the bathroom, getting ready as fast as I could. After ten minutes of showering, forcing my bed-head to fall around my shoulders again, and picking out the clothes I wanted to wear, I nearly took the front door off its hinges before my mother insisted that I eat breakfast before I go. I proceeded to trample my little brother halfway to death in my rush to eat and run. He looked up at me with tears in his eyes and his lip began to quiver. I rolled my eyes and rushed past him into the kitchen, knowing what was coming next. "MOMMY! ASHLEY KNOCKED ME OVER!"

I groaned, wolfing down my breakfast as quickly as possible. "Sorry, squirt. Maybe if you were a few inches taller, I'd be able to see you."

As I had predicted, my jibe instantly turned his wails into childish anger. "Just you wai, I'm gonna be taller than you, mommy, even daddy!"

"Uh-huh," I said around a mouthful of eggs. "You just keep telling yourself that."

He growled and drew his tiny fist back to hit me. Just at that moment, my father walked into the room, adjusting his tie around his neck. His eyes narrowed when he saw Karl's fist, an amused glint in his eyes. Karl sighed and took his seat at the table. I slammed my fork down and leapt up. I breezed by my parents, giving them each a kiss on the cheek. "Gotta go now, bye!"

Dad shouted something after me, but I completely ignored it in my rush to get to Professor Oak's lab. "I hope all the good pokémon aren't- ow!"

I rubbed my head, glaring frustrated at the person I had run into. Richard was standing over me, awkwardly rubbing his back. As usual, he never spoke a word, choosing instead to raise an eyebrow over one of his green eyes. I shoved myself to my feet, brushing dust off of my sore rear end. "Thanks for helping me up," I growled ill-temperedly.

He continued to stare at me, one eyebrow raised. "Don't give me that look." He sighed and started back down the road toward the professor's lab. I started after him, still dusting myself off. He was walking resolutely ahead, eyes fixed on the white building we were approaching. My eyes were drawn to the crowd around the massive double-doors. We walked up to the mob and stood at the back, waiting for the prof to come out and let us start our lifelong journey or something like that.

After a long wait, the white doors slowly opened just enough for an elderly man to walk outside. Professor Samuel Oak looked as strong as he had ever been, despite being older than some of the buildings around Pallet Town. His white hair stood up in spikes and his eyes crinkled as he opened his mouth. "Silence!" There was silence. "Now I know you all are excited to be getting your Pokémon. However, I must tell you all something first. These pokémon…"

What went into my ears may have made sense to the rest of the world, but what made it into my brain was "Blah blah blah pokémon blah blah." I knew most of the rules of battling, that your Pokémon were your friends, not tools, and all that jazz. I looked around, growing more and more impatient. I looked at Richard, knowing that he would be paying attention. Sure enough, he was staring unblinkingly at the old man as if trying to use psychic powers on him.

Professor Oak held up his hands. "I'm sure you all are excited to get your Pokémon." Wild cheers erupted form the crowd. He waved his hands for silence. "Now, seeing as how Pallet Town has… expanded over the past year quite dramatically, we've decided to do things a little differently. Three of my aides and I will be handing out your soon-to-be-lifelong friends. Due to the influx of Pokémon from different continents, we have caught a large variety of different Pokémon for you to choose from. You will form four lines and PATIENTLY wait your turn. Once it is your turn, you will tell the person which Pokémon you want. You will be given that Pokémon, if we have any left, and a Pokédex. Then, you will be free to begin your lifelong journey and achieve your dreams!"

Another wave of loud cheers met his last words. "Geez, is everything lifelong for him?" I muttered to myself. "How long has his lifelong journey gone? A million years?"

I looked up and realized that people had almost finished forming lines. Trying to ignore Richard's reproachful look, I slipped in behind him, glaring at some of the protesting people behind me. After what seemed like forever, it was the person in front of Richard's turn. He chose some crappy Pokémon, a Wingull I think, and then it was Richard's turn. He pointed at a Poké Ball, a determined look in his eyes. The aide looked at him curiously, but handed him the Poké Ball and a Pokédex. He immediately released the Pokémon, a short orangish-red chick. I almost cooed at its cuteness but was cut short by the aide clearing her throat.

"Can I have a Squirtle?" I asked, thinking about how cute Squirtles were and how its water would beat that Torchic's fire any day. The aide smiled at me and handed me a Poké Ball and a Pokédex. I thanked her and ran after Richard, hoping to catch him. He was just about to leave the gates when I caught up to him. I panted heavily, putting my hands on my knees. I looked up slightly and directly into the black eyes of Richard's Torchic. I nearly cooed again but remembered why I chased him down.

"I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!" I shouted between gasps. He regarded me patiently, waiting for my gasps for air to subside. Once I had caught my breath, I grinned and sent out my Pokémon. "Go, Seashell!" A Squirtle popped out. It looked at me incredulously. "What's the matter?"

"Squirtle squirt!"

"What, you don't like your nickname?"

The Pokémon nodded.

"How about Shelly?"

"Squirt!" he said, shaking his head.

"Shellshock?" I asked, trying to find more words containing 'shell'.

The Squirtle grinned and turned back to the Torchic in front of him. Richard was sqatting down, whispering quietly with his Torchic. It was looking up at him, nodding occasionally.

"C'mon!" I shouted. "Let's get this show on the road!"

Richard looked at me critically, but shrugged and stared at Shellshock. Shellshock stared at Torchic, who gazed right back at it. I looked at them all and sighed impatiently. "Shellshock, Tackle now!"

Shellshock gave a grin and hurtled towards the fire Pokémon. Torchic looked up at Richard, fear dancing in its eyes. He nodded at it and it looked back at the turtle hurtling towards it. I watched as the Torchic didn't move as Shellshock drew closer and closer. Then, at the last second, it jumped aside and raked the blue turtle with its sharp claws. Shellshock looked at the Torchic in irritation and looked back at me.

"Tackle again!" He hurtled towards the Torchic again, who, just like the time before, jumped aside and scratched at the turtle. Shellshock was looking even more irritated, but he was also injured.

I sighed, knowing that this was going nowhere. "Tail Whip, now!" Shellshock swung his thick tail at Torchic. Torchic darted forward and scratched Shellshock again and again.

"Tackle!" I cried out in desperation, Shellshock managed to slam its head into Torchic, knocking it backwards. Torchic shook its head and delivered one final scratch. Shellshock looked apologetically at me and passed out. Dispirited, I recalled him into his Poké Ball and walked over to Richard. He gave his Torchic a warm hug, causing the small bird to chirp happily.

"Here's your money," I said bitterly, handing over the forfeit. I looked down, feeling thoroughly disheartened. I felt Richard's fingers close over my own, gently pushing my hand into a fist. I looked up at him, shocked, as he smiled at me and patted my shoulder. He turned around and strode off, his Torchic hopping alongside him.

I looked back at the money in my hand. He had taken none of it. I was surprised, but I gave a small grin nevertheless. "Hey Richard!" He paused and turned halfway towards me. "You better train hard, 'cause next time will be different!"

He smiled and, shaking his head, walked away.

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Remember people, if you read, review! The story ain't done yet.


	2. The Day is Mine!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon... sigh

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After losing to Richard, I knew I had to get stronger or I would lose again. After going to my house, where we rested and regained our strength, we set out towards Viridian City. Shellshock battled some aggressive Rattata, growing stronger with every battle. Along the way, I accidentally stumbled upon an injured Shinx. Touched, I reached out towards it. After receiving a harmless electric shock, after which the poor thing fell unconscious, I carried it to the Viridian City Pokémon Center. I waited until Nurse Joy was finished before carrying the cat back outside. As I put it down and turned away, it shocked me again. I turned back to it, looking at it fiercely. It stared right back at me, unafraid and hopeful. I grinned, opening up a Poké Ball. Sparky had joined the team. 

I walked out of Viridian City in high hopes. After a few battles with some annoying Sentrets and Phanpys, a pretty Nidoran F jumped into the path. I sent out Sparky, which glared at the offending Pokémon. Sparky tackled it, knocking it to the ground. Unfortunately, he turned an odd purplish tinge. I recalled him and sent out Shellshock. He grinned, as usual. He seemed to like battling a lot, I noticed. Anyway, a couple Bubbles and the Nidoran F was almost down. It seemed cruel to leave such a cute Pokémon on the ground, so I tried to catch it. To my elation, after a few shakes, the Poké Ball stood still, meaning I had captured another Pokémon. I ran back to Viridian City, healing my Pokémon there. After they were healed, I let them out so I could see how they got along. Nidoran F, which I decided to name Wisteria, seemed to get along well with the other two Pokémon.

I walked out of Viridian City again, this time managing to reach Pewter City. After getting rid of one heck of a lot of Caterpies, Spinaraks, Weedles, and Shroomish, my Pokémon were pretty much tired out. I reached the Pokémon Center just before Shellshock and Sparky passed out from poison. Wisteria was fine, seeing as how she couldn't be poisoned. I looked around, trying to find any trainers. After remembering that Pewter City had a Gym, I walked over there and decided to challenge the Gym Leader. After I whipped his little trainees with some of Wisteria's Double Kicks, Brock decided to take me on. With Shellshock, the battle wasn't even fair. He hit those Geodudes and Onix with so many Bubbles, they looked like mud when he was done. Brock was a great sport about it though. He gave me the Boulder Badge and pointed me towards Mount Moon.

Right before I got to Mount Moon, however, a pack of Growlithes ran across my path. I decided that I wanted one and called out Shellshock. I was just about to take out one of the Growlithes when a tiny straggler emerged from the tall grass. It was squeaking pitifully, but the other Growlithes were just concentrating on running away. I was about to chase after them when an angry Stantler jumped out of the bush, its enraged glare locked onto the tiny Growlithe. I realized what was going on and, before the Graveller knew it, Shellshock Bubbled it to unconsciousness. I picked up the Growlithe and brought it to the Pokémon center at the base of the mountain. Nurse Joy apparently labeled it as my Pokémon, so Cinder came into my team.

I passed through Mount Moon at about the same speed I had passed through Viridian Forest. Which, in case anybody was wondering, as fast as possible. I was chased out the other end by a horde of Zubats, Geodudes, Nosepasses, and Magnemites. A Paras tried to hitch a ride on my pant leg on the way out, but Cinder gave it a taste of Ember and the mushroom-bug scuttled back into the cave.

Before challenging the Cerulean City Gym Leader to a battle, I healed my Pokémon and wandered towards the 5-Win Bridge (or whatever the heck it's called.) I beat those losers soundly without even breaking a sweat. Shellshock even evolved! I explored the cliffs above and explored around there. I tried to catch an Abra, but they kept Teleporting away from me. How annoying. Anyhoo, I battled around some more and eventually made my way over to a house. I took a peek inside. Who do I see, but Marcus, son of the legendary Bill. We started to talk, but his incessant chattering about Pokémon nearly gave me a headache. Going back to heal my Pokes and challenge the Gym Leader, I turned the corner and, lo and behold, a familiar person with unruly brown hair emerged from one of the houses.

* * *

"Hey Richard!" I called, grinning broadly. 

He turned around, raising an eyebrow. A ghost of a smile made its way onto his face and he waved to me. A Combusken stood next to him, staring at me with amusement. I grinned and tucked my black hair behind my ear, remembering that I had to show Richard what I was made of. What surprised me was the round metal ball with magnets and screws sticking every which way hovering around his legs. Its eye looked me over and it gave a dull drone. "_Magnemite._"

"Wanna fight?" I asked, putting my hand at my belt. I saw three Poké Balls at his belt and I knew that I was seeing two of his three Pokémon. "Why do you not have your Pokémon in their Poké Balls? Aren't you afraid of Team Rocket?"

He gave a small smirk and gestured at my belt. I rolled my eyes, knowing I wasn't going to get any answer. "Go, Cinder!"

Cinder popped out, giving very high-pitched yips. She looked around in anticipation, shaking slightly. I groaned, thinking that unless the Pokémon posed a direct threat to me, Cinder was probably going to be afraid. I hoped Richard would go easy on her, and when he threw out a Poké Ball, I nearly closed my eyes.

When I saw what Pokémon he had sent out, I thought my eyes were deceiving me. When I had hoped for him to go easy, I hadn't mean for him to send out a… "Magikarp? That useless fish?"

Anger flashed into Richard's eyes and he pointed at my Growlithe. The Magikarp flopped over the Cinder, its mouth opening and closing uselessly. I was about to laugh when it slammed into Cinder, knocking her backwards. It slammed into her again, knocking her further backwards. I knew that Cinder wasn't gonna take much more of that, so I regretfully recalled her. My face flushed with shame. How dare I be beaten by a Magikarp!

"Sparky, go!" Sparky flew out of the ball in a burst of red light. He looked at Magikarp like… well, a Shinx would look at a Magikarp. In other words, hungrily. The Magikarp flopped backwards slightly, a look of fear on its stupid-looking face. "Bite, Sparky!"

Sparky leapt forward, baring his tiny teeth. Magikarp flopped towards him and they met in midair. They went rolling through the dirt, kicking up dust as they went. Sparky was repeatedly biting Magikarp, but the fish got a Tackle or two in. After a few moments, the Magikarp went limp and Richard recalled it. Sparky looked fine, although he was limping slightly.

Richard looked at me, calculating his next move. He turned and whispered to his Combusken. The bird wandered forward, sizing up Sparky. I groaned, knowing that this was going to be neither an easy battle nor a long one. As I expected, Combusken leapt forward and kicked Sparky so hard he nearly flew through a tree. I recalled the unconscious cat and grinned internally.

"Go, Shellshock!" The Wartortle was in a ready stance, grinning slightly. His grin grew even wider as he saw Combusken. He crouched down, holding out his claws in anticipation. I saw Combusken tense and I knew what it was about to do. "Withdraw NOW!"

A look of surprise flashed across Shellshock's face, but, since we had battled together so many times before, he trusted me. He withdrew just as Combusken's foot collided with his shell where his head used to be. Shellshock ricocheted off of a tree and hit Combusken on the head, knocking it to the ground. I laughed at the situation and, after he emerged from his shell, Shellshock joined in.

"Water Gun!" I gasped between laughs. Shellshock nailed Combusken right in the chest with the Water Gun, almost knocking it out. Combusken leaned on a shaky arm and sat up, glaring at Shellshock. It heaved itself forward in a horizontal position, feet first. Its feet collided with Shellshock's gut, bowling the turtle over. Shellshock scrambled to his feet, glaring at the semi-unconscious bird.

"One last Water Gun," I said. Shellshock blasted Combusken in the chest, fully knocking it out. Richard looked on, a hint of sadness in his eyes. He recalled the unconscious Pokémon and gestured for his Magnemite to take the field. It hovered over to the field, looking at Shellshock coolly.

"Dodge-" I started. But it was too late. Magnemite nailed Shellshock with a Thundershock. Shellshock sank to a knee, groaning slightly. A flicker of electricity rain across his shell, probably meaning he was paralyzed as well. "Want to return?"

Shellshock shook his head stubbornly. We both knew that he couldn't win, but his fighting spirit was just too great. Richard gave a grin, nearly causing me to blow up at him. But, having spent a good deal of my life around the boy, I realized that it was an admiring, respectful smile, not an arrogant, victorious smile. I grinned along with him, even when his Magnemite shocked Shellshock into unconsciousness.

"Have a rest, Shellshock," I said, recalling him. "Go, Wisteria!" Wisteria popped out, looking around. She squealed and flashed a small grin when she saw me. "Double Kick!"

Richard gave a silent laugh. Magneton sent a Sonicboom at Wisteria, which she dodged. She slammed her feet into the round ball, which emitted a mechanical whirring sound. It sent another Sonicboom at Wisteria, which hit her square on. She rolled to her feet, shaking off the attack. She kicked Magnemite once more, knocking the ball of metal out cold.

I was about to crow in victory, but I restrained myself. After all, we were even now. We both had a 1-1 win-loss ratio, so there was no cause to celebrate. I recalled Wisteria and walked over to Richard. He thumbed through his wallet, a sad smile still on his face.

"I don't want your money," I said plainly. He looked up at me in surprise. "We're even now, aren't we? You didn't take my money last time, so I won't take yours now. C'mon, let's go the Pokémon Center and get our Pokes healed up! I wonder if they have candy while we wait…"

As I hoped he would, Richard smiled at this last statement. He nodded and started off towards the Pokémon Center, looking back to see if I was following.

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Well, 1 out of 15 readers reviewing ain't bad, but I'd prefer to have a couple more. Happy new year to you all! 


	3. Tactics are Important, Too

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. I grew up with them; does that count? No? Didn't think so...

On with the story!

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After thrashing Misty (Sparky really shone here; literally, he evolved! He looks slightly less cute and slightly more sinister, but he got stronger and he's more confident now), I tried to get a bike. When I saw the whopping price tag on the darn things, I decided that walking was better for my health. After training a bit more on the cliffs above Cerulean City, I followed a Rocket through a hole he had conveniently left for me. After thrashing him too (I seem to be doing a lot of thrashing), I got Dig and went to Vermillion City as fast as I could. A few trainers tried to stop me, but they had wimpy bug Pokémon that fell to Cinder's Ember and Sparky's Thundershock. Sparky got more and more confident as he was actually able to fight on his own. I wish I could say the same thing for Cinder. 

I got to Vermillion City and, after healing up my Pokes, tried to go to the Gym Leader. Unfortunately, there was this dumb tree in the way, which, no matter how hard I tried, couldn't seem to get around. The water looked a fair distance down and the cliffs were almost vertical, so jumping down and climbing up was not an option. Frustrated, I searched the town for anybody who could help me. I found this Fan Club and the old man was really nice. Granted, he talked for about… forever, but as soon as he was done he gave me a Bike Voucher. Next time I pass by Cerulean City, I'm gonna get me a bike! A good one, not one of those junk bikes that fall apart the instant you sit on them.

He also told me where I could get the Cut HM, which would help me get rid of the tree. Elated, I rushed over to the S. S. Anne, the ship in the harbor. I checked around, fighting trainers whenever I saw them. Wisteria took out a good number of those fighting types, seeing as they could barely hurt her, and Sparky took care of the fish. I swear I'm spoiling that cat with those easy battles.

I also visited the Captain. It was disgusting. You'd think that a seasoned sailing Captain would be able to handle being at _port_, right? Nope. He was hurling and throwing up. The only reason I stayed was to get that Cut HM. Ugh. If this is what he's like when docked, I shudder to think of what he'd be like out at sea. Anyway, I took my HM and skedaddled. I was just running down the stairs when a familiar brown-haired boy turned the corner.

* * *

Richard smiled at me, nodding politely. I grinned and ran up to him. "Hey Richard! Goin' up to the Captain? He's nothing like everybody says he is. He's only a seasick old geezer."

Richard stared at me reproachfully. I remembered how he didn't like insulting others, especially older people. His Combusken walked around the corner, glaring at somebody behind it. Magnemite followed it, beeping furiously. The two Pokémon stopped when they saw me. They stared at me for a second, then Combusken grinned devilishly and Magnemite began beeping excitedly. Richard nodded and turned to me, gesturing at his Pokémon.

"Is that a challenge?" I asked, my hand straying to my belt. I looked at his belt and grinned when I only saw three Poké Balls. This was going to be a piece of cake, even if he had trained a fair amount. He nodded, his arms still held out at his Pokémon. I grinned, my hand settling on one of my Poké Balls. _If I send out Shellshock, his Magnemite might win. Cinder? Maybe… I'll keep her in reserve. Wisteria? Yeah, she'll do fine. I don't wanna give Sparky away just yet…_ "Go, Wisteria!"

Richard pointed at Magnemite, which beeped and hovered into the arena. They exchanged looks, arousing my suspicions. _Maybe he's telepathic_… I shook my head, grinning to myself. "Wisteria, use Double Kick!"

Wisteria cried and threw herself towards the Magnemite. Magnemite backed up slightly, sending a Sonicboom at Wisteria as it did so. The Sonicboom hit her in the side, causing her to stop her charge. It sent another Sonicboom, this one hitting her in the leg. She spun backwards, crying out. I knew that Richard had trained Magnemite for just this reason and would never let Wisteria within a few feet of Magnemite.

"Wisteria, return! Go, Cinder!" The tiny Growlithe leapt out, barking at the Magnemite. Magnemite turned to Richard, who looked annoyed with my switching Pokémon. He shook his head at Magnemite, who then turned back to Cinder. "Ember, now!"

Cinder let forth a barrage of little flames. Magnemite emitted a loud screeching sound, causing Cinder to wimper. It was hit by Cinder's attack and fell backwards. It caught itself just before it hit the floor, however, and turned back to Cinder. Electricity crackled around its body and it let loose a Thundershock. Cinder cried out, almost falling unconscious.

"How'd a Thundershock do so much damage?" I wondered aloud. "It's not like Cinder is water-type or anything…"

Richard grinned at me, tapping his ears. I looked back at the Magnemite and groaned in realization. "Stupid Metal Sound," I muttered. Cinder looked at me sorrowfully. "It's okay. You'll beat that stupid Pokémon next time, I promise."

Cinder nodded and let herself be brought back into her Poké Ball. I looked critically at the Magnemite, which was metallically humming happily. It had taken one Pokémon out of the fight and nearly another. Whatever Richard's training regiment was, it seemed to be working.

I grinned, trying an unorthodox tactic. "Go, Shellshock! Water Gun!" Shellshock popped out and sent a jet of water directly at Magnemite. I saw Richard's eyes widen, then he broke out into a smile. Magnemite was knocked over backwards, almost toppling over the railing. He recalled it just before it did, however, patting the Poké Ball lightly. He reached to his third Poké Ball and tapped the button, expanding it. He threw it overboard.

I blinked, confused at his actions. A flash of red light exploded and the Poké Ball flew back to Richard's hand. I walked over to the railing, wondering what was going on. A great blue serpent reared out of the water, glaring at Shellshock maliciously. Shellshock took a step backwards, eyeing the Pokémon warily.

I had jumped back from the railing and was now staring into the serpent's eyes. I whirled around, pointing an accusatory finger at Richard. "You! You evolved your Magikarp?!"

He grinned, shrugging happily. He snapped his finger and Gyarados lunged towards Shellshock, clamping down on his shell. Shellshock shot blast after blast of water at it while hitting it with his legs, but the attacks didn't even faze the sea serpent. It repeatedly slammed Shellshock with its massive coils, knocking him out completely. Then, it gently deposited the turtle in front of me, grinning maniacally.

I withdrew Shellshock, still annoyed at Richard's progress. I grinned, determined to show him that he wasn't the only one who evolved a Pokémon. "Go, Sparky!"

Sparky leapt out, looking around. His eyes settled on Gyarados and, instead of backing up like I thought he would, he gave his Shinx-spies-Magikarp look. Gyarados involuntarily swam backwards slightly at the sight. "Spark Sparky!"

I giggled to myself at the terrible pun. Nevertheless, Sparky flew at Gyarados, electricity crackling around him. He slammed into Gyarados, causing the Pokémon to wince in pain. The dragon-like Pokémon roared, shaking the ship slightly. It began to fall towards the ship, but Richard quickly caught it in his Poké Ball's beam. It vanished in a flash of red light, causing me to heave a sigh of relief.

"You only have Combusken left, Richard!" I taunted. "You have one Pokémon while I have two!"

Richard grinned and pushed the back of his shirt aside. He grabbed fourth Poké Ball from the back of his belt and brought it in front of me. He tapped the button and threw it out. It opened, releasing a burst of red light. I waited anxiously for the Pokémon to materialize. When it did, I let out my breath in disappointment.

"A Machop?" I said. "Don't you know what's gonna happen to that thing? Sparky, the moment it moves, Thundershock it." Sparky looked at me. "If you use Spark, that thing will kick you off the ship."

Richard grinned slightly. Machop charged forwards, arms held behind itself to streamline its body. Sparky shot a Thundeshock at it, hoping to slow it down. It threw itself into a roll, ducking under the attack. It somersaulted forwards a few times, then came out of its roll feet first. Its feet came into contact with Sparky's jaw, sending him flying through the air. Sparky landed further down the deck with a thud. Machop was already running after it, a determined look in its eyes.

"Thundershock!" I cried. Sparky looked up and sent more electricity at the Machop. This time the attack hit it in the head and it slid to a stop. It looked at its muscles, watching electricity occasionally flicker across its body. It tried to run again, but fell to the ground, growling to itself.

"Hah, Richard," I said, walking over to my Luxio. "Whatcha gonna do now that Machop is paralyzed?" I glanced over, expecting to see him look annoyed, or even frightened.

What I saw, however, was him laughing silently to himself. Machop was slowly walking over to Sparky, who looked tiredly back at Machop.

"Thundershock again!" Machop twisted its body, absorbing the shock into its arm instead of its head. It continued towards Sparky, drawing back its arm. It gave a quick Karate Chop to Sparky's head, knocking it out cold.

I growled, knowing that my only hope was Wisteria, who was seriously injured. Nevertheless, I sent her out, hoping that she could do something. Almost instantly, Wisteria kicked Machop twice in the side. I grinned knowing that it was almost knocked out. However, it looked like Machop and Richard were both expecting this. Machop drew back its fist and rammed it into Wisteria's chin in a massive uppercut. Wisteria flew completely away from the ship. If I hadn't recalled her in time, I would have lost her for sure.

"Using your opponents attacks against them with Revenge makes them vengeful themselves," I warned Richard as I walked over to him with my forfeit. He grinned, waving away the money. I shook my head. _I am never going to understand that boy_, I said to myself. He patted me on the shoulder and turned away, walking up the stairs to the Captain's room.

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Please, if you could leave a review, even flames are accepted. It only takes a second... 


	4. Fighting for Words

Okay, so before the story, a few things must be announced.

The chapters, as you should know if you've read any of the previous story, are separated into two parts: the filler in which Ashley travels across the continent, and her interaction with Richard.

Secondly, the chapters are going to vary greatly in length (I believe this one is around twice as long as any of my previous chapters) because of the journey Ashley takes, because she pays quite a lot of attention to Richard (possibly due to hormones), and because of the ever-increasing number of Pokémon they both have.

Thirdly, I DO NOT OWN POKEMON!

Fourthly, I have no idea what a Dragon Rage looks like, so don't be hatin' if my description's completely off.

And last, but certainly not least, props to Dirty Elf for being an awesome fan.

On with the story!

* * *

I realized that I would actually have to teach one of my Pokémon the Cut HM, so I settled on Wisteria. After I healed my Pokémon up, I taught her Cut and she hacked apart the tree blocking our way. I stepped inside the Gym and felt the hairs on my entire body stand on end. There was enough electricity pumping through this Gym to light up all of Kanto! The easy parts were the trainers. After Richard's Magnemite, I knew to keep on my toes when dealing with electric-types. Apparently, Cinder and Wisteria knew that as well, and they certainly laid a beating upon those guys. The hard part was finding those darn switches. I searched forever in those trashcans, looking around for the switches. 

Fate seemed to hate me, for Richard walked in at that precise moment, his Combusken and Machop trailing behind him. He dealt with the trainers with ease, not even bothering to use any Pokémon other than Machop. He looked around, seemingly searching for something. He then walked over and reached into a trashcan, almost completely submerging his arm. A loud buzzer sounded and Richard looked around, studying the surrounding trashcans critically. He walked over to the adjacent one closer to the entrance and reached inside that one. A second buzzer sounded, causing all the trainers to stop what they were doing. I growled in frustration, knowing there as nothing I could do about it.

Lieutenant Surge walked into the arena at the back of the Gym. He marked an impressive figure, despite getting on with his years. He glared at Richard, who snapped to attention. His two Pokémon followed suit. Lt. Surge laughed and called forth his Pikachu. Richard's Machop bounded into the field, bursting with energy and ready to battle. Pikachu seemed to go for lighting strikes, darting in and knocking Machop over before swiftly retreating. Richard cricked his neck, causing Machop to grin. The next time the Pikachu hurtled towards it, Machop rolled to the side and grabbed the electric mouse's tail. He spun him around in circles, gaining momentum, before throwing Pikachu into the air. The Pokémon landed on the floor, unable to battle.

Cheers went out from the stands, but were quickly hushed as Lt. Surge sent out his Voltorb. Seeing that there was no surface to grab or solidly hit, Machop looked helplessly at Richard, who nodded and recalled him. He sent Combusken forward, a small grin playing around his lips. The audience laughed as Combusken proceeded to use Voltorb as a soccer ball. Lt. Surge was fuming now, all traces of friendliness gone. Voltorb was recalled and Lt. Surge sent out his final Pokémon, a Raichu. Combusken bore down upon the Pokémon, but right as it was about to strike out, Raichu sent 10,000 volts through Combusken's body, knocking it out cold.

Richard raised an eyebrow, recalling Combusken. He picked a Poké Ball off of his belt and threw it out. Magnemite appeared, looking around happily. It took one look at Raichu and sent a Sonicboom at it. Raichu couldn't dodge and was knocked slightly backwards. Magnemite sent another Sonicboom at Raichu, but Raichu countered with a Thunderbolt. After a few exchanges like this, Magnemite went down, its eye closing over.

Richard took out his final Poké Ball and the audience held its breath. He looked directly at me and smiled. I sat there, stunned. I knew what he was going to do. After all, I had taught him about quick entrances. He threw his Poké Ball as hard as he could at Raichu. Gyarados spiraled out like a jack-in-the-box, clamping down upon the astonished Raichu. It twisted its neck sharply, ramming Raichu against the floor. The audience went quiet, and the burst into applause. Lt. Surge grinned broadly, clapping Richard on the back and handing him the Thunderbadge. He looked directly at me again and held up two fingers on each hand. To anybody else, he was celebrating his victory. To me, he was claiming our matches even again, 2-2. I grinned and went out with the rest of the crowd.

As I searched through the trashcans for the hidden switch, I couldn't help but admire how Richard handled his Pokémon. It was as if they had a psychic connection together. As I was thinking, I accidentally hit the first switch. After the buzzer sounded, some amateur punk came up to me and demanded a battle. I sent out Wisteria, who kicked his Magnemite square in the eye, twice. Wisteria began to shine and, after a few seconds, grew taller, bigger, and changed color slightly. She looked at me proudly, showing off her new evolution. I laughed and asked her to pick a trashcan. After sniffing all four of them once, she butted her head against one of them. I reached in and, sure enough, the second buzzer sounded.

A larger crowd gathered for me than for Richard. This was probably because they were wondering if their Gym Leader would lose twice in a row. I knew his Pokémon and proceeded to whoop his butt soundly with Wisteria and Cinder, with Sparky providing emergency backup. I realized why Richard had counted this as a victory for me. He was being nice, since Lt. Surge was a lot craftier than he had been facing Richard. Voltorb acted a lot faster causing most of Wisteria's attacks to miss. I switched out to Cinder, who almost lit the Gym on fire spraying Ember all around. Voltorb had to slow down or skid directly into a fiery patch, so Cinder nailed it with a Flame Wheel. I was so proud of her I hugged her and she nearly lit me on fire in surprise and happiness.

Pikachu was a similar story. Cinder had a fiery wall surrounding her, obscuring Pikachu's view of her. She let loose a barrage of Flame Wheels, most of which Pikachu dodged. In a last ditch attempt, Pikachu sent a Thunderbolt at Cinder, knocking her out completely. I recalled her, a feeling of pride swelling in my chest. Pikachu let out a cough of smoke and collapsed too.

I sent Sparky out to see if I could weaken the Raichu some. As I expected, Raichu focused on longer range attacks, so Sparky charged in and Tackled it a couple times. Raichu hit Sparky with a Thunder Wave, forcing me to withdraw him as he would become a very slow-moving target. Wisteria came and proceeded to beat Raichu up, combining her poisonous skin with her ferocious teeth. Raichu tried to fend her off, but it kept colliding with Wisteria's poisonous barbs and further injuring itself.

After a while, the poison and the Bites took their toll and Raichu fell over, unconscious. Lt. Surge put on an obviously fake smile as he walked over to me. Stiff old geezer. After raising my hands in victory and accepting the Thunderbadge, I hightailed it the heck outta there, determined to beat Richard to the next Gym. As I was leaving, however, I felt a hand on my back. As it turns out, my father had some business in Vermillion City and had dropped by to watch my Pokémon battle. He looked real proud of me, beaming and telling everybody how "his little girl's gonna be the next Pokémon Master". To top it all off, he gave me the Flash HM, saying that I was gonna need it later.

I left Vermillion for Celadon City. Unfortunately, the guard wouldn't let me into Saffron City, complaining about being thirsty, but not thirsty enough to abandon her post. Jerk. As I was about to take a loop through Lavender Town, I heard a rumor about a sleeping Snorlax blocking the path, preventing me from going that direction. After consulting my Town Map, I realized that the only way for me to go to Celadon was to go back down the tunnel, through Cerulean, into and through the mountains, through Lavender Town, into another tunnel, and somehow end up there. Groaning, I began my long trek.

I went through the tunnel and stopped at Cerulean, picking up a bike with my voucher from the Fan Club. I marveled at the speed at which I could now travel and promptly took off into the mountains. I trashed the trainers there with Shellshock and Cinder, making my way to the Pokémon Center at the entrance to the caves. After walking into the cave and nearly tripping in the darkness, I realized why Dad had given me the Flash HM. I quickly taught it to Sparky.

Almost immediately, I set my sights on an adorable little grey Pokémon with big blue eyes. After identifying it as an Aron, I decided that I must have it. I sent Shellshock against it and nearly took it out with one Bubble! I captured it before it could hurt itself. I rushed back outside (around three feet) and healed my new Pokémon.

Steelhide, a name she seemed to heartily enjoy, proved to be invaluable. Without her, I would have been stuck wandering those darn caves forever. I battled my way through, letting all my Pokémon join in. I made it out of the caves in one piece and walked into Lavender Town. After healing my Pokémon, my attention was drawn to the large tower set into the hillside. I walked towards it, slightly intrigued by the tower. A loud wailing could be heard, arousing my curiosity. My inquisitiveness was driven out of my mind as I saw Richard exiting the building, looking thoroughly annoyed.

* * *

His green eyes locked onto mine and his annoyed expression vanished faster than a frightened Ghastly. Giving a single giggle at the apt analogy considering where we were, I waved and walked over to him. "Wassup, Richard?" 

He shrugged. Combusken appeared from behind him, also looking annoyed. Magnemite floated behind it, humming monotonously. I glanced at them and looked back at Richard. "Wanna tell me what's wrong?" He shook his head, shrugging it off. "If I win, will you tell me?"

He stared at a spot above my head, thinking hard. He looked back at me and nodded, grinning. His hands skimmed over his Poké Balls, finally settling on one. He thought for a moment, then tapped the floor with his shoe. Magnemite floated forward, humming contentedly. I nodded, thinking about which Pokémon would last the longest against Magnemite. I settled on my new Pokémon, knowing that this was as good a time as any to try her out.

"Go, Steelhide!" I shouted, throwing her Poké Ball out. Steelhide thumped lightly onto the ground, looking around with her big blue eyes. "Mud Slap!"

Steelhide scuffed her foot against the ground, throwing a blotch of mud at Magnemite. Richard and Magnemite had clearly not been expecting this and Magnemite was hit full on. It emitted a frantic series of beeps and buzzes, swiveling around. Richard clapped his hands and Magnemite suddenly focused on Steelhide, a series of beeps growing faster and higher pitched emitting from its body.

I inwardly groaned, knowing that Lock On would nullify the accuracy loss. "Take Down, now!"

Steelhide pelted forward, gaining momentum as she went. Magnemite's beeps were growing steadily faster. Steelhide smashed into the ball, knocking it backwards. Magnemite let loose a burst of electricity, shocking Steelhide. Steelhide shook her head and stared at Magnemite. Magnemite had a small dent in its side and was floating closer to the ground than usual. "Take Down again!"

Magnemite looked helplessly at Richard, who swiftly called it back into its Poké Ball. I cursed, knowing that I still had to deal with that Pokémon. Richard flipped open his Pokédex, scanning it quickly. A devilish grin crept onto his face and his hand drifted to one of his Poké Balls. A humanoid figure landed on the ground, snorting and cracking its knuckles.

"Machoke," it said, looking at Steelhide with amusement. I realized that Steelhide would take one hit from Machoke before it was knocked out. I quickly recalled her, trying hard to think of what to do next.

"Wisteria," I said, summoning her to the battlefield. "Use any move but Bite against him. Don't hesitate to get in close. His moves are all Fighting, which isn't very effective against you."

I looked up just as Richard's and Machoke's expressions turned from smirks to slightly panicky. I could still see a glint of amusement dancing in Richard's eyes, but couldn't see why. Wisteria ran towards Machoke, gaining momentum. Machoke charged forwards, its arms wide open, like it was going to give her a hug. The two Pokémon collided in midair, striking each other viciously. Wisteria was raining kick after kick upon Machoke, who was chopping at her head in turn. They continued to scrabble in the dirt for a few moments, Richard and I wincing whenever a particularly painful hit landed. Although it looked like it was going to pass out, Machoke hurled itself upon Wisteria, grabbing her in a bone-crushing hug. She squeaked and bit him repeatedly as he jumped high into the air, ignoring the attacks. They hovered in midair for a moment, then fell to the ground, landing with an earthshaking thump.

Neither Pokémon moved for a moment, but, after another few moments, Machoke stood up, dusting itself off. It trudged back to Richard, obviously in pain from the poison coursing through its system. It turned around and gave a taunting grin. Growling, I withdrew Wisteria and considered my options. _I hate that stupid Machoke. I can't even get near it with a Pokémon resistant to fighting. I need some ranged attacks. How about…_

"Cinder, I choose you!" I shouted, throwing out her Poké Ball. Cinder popped out and gave a series of yips. She eyed Machoke warily and bared her teeth, staying a safe distance away. I quickly realized what I should do and relayed it to my Pokémon. "Just keep running around it, Cinder!"

Cinder gave a high-pitched bark and started running all over the place. Machoke chased after her, grunting loudly. Richard stared at me questioningly for a moment, then his eyebrows shot up in surprise. He winced, obviously annoyed that he hadn't remembered it earlier. Machoke crashed to the dirt, Wisteria's poison belatedly declaring the match between the two a draw. Despite his evident annoyance and sadness, he grinned his grin of acknowledgment. I positively beamed when he smiled like that at me, happy that he truly respected me and bore no hard feelings. I'd probably be sad if he did…

_Okay, I did not just think that_, I told myself. _Concentrate on the battle_. I flipped through my mental inventory of Richard's Pokémon, trying to anticipate his move. My eyes widened as I realized which of his Pokémon would be the obvious choice against Cinder.

Sure enough, his Gyarados appeared in a flash of light, glaring angrily at Cinder. She yelped and cowered slightly, averting her gaze. The giant serpent shot towards the fire Pokémon, its movement no less hindered by the terrain's lack of water. Cinder managed a Flame Wheel, which merely dispersed on the dragon's blue scales, before she was seized in the Pokémon's jaws. Gyarados bit down hard, then threw the weakened pup towards the ground. I grinned, hoping that Gyarados wouldn't realize that Cinder wasn't completely out for the count.

However, I guess a Pokémon's sense of these kinds of things are a lot sharper than a human's, as Gyarados sent out shockwaves and fire towards Cinder, knocking her out completely. I sighed, knowing that I would have to train Cinder a lot if I wanted to continue using her. I recalled her and chose the most obvious Pokémon for the job.

"Let's go, Sparky!" I called, releasing Sparky. He yowled in excitement and looked over at Gyarados. As always, the serpent cowered under Sparky's gaze. Well, it kind of shrunk towards the ground slightly, which, in my opinion, is as close to cowering as that Pokémon's gonna get. I knew that I wanted to end this quickly, as Richard probably had some counter against this obvious offense. "Charge, now!"

Sparky looked at me confusedly, but began glowing softly, electric sparks occasionally flying off of his body. Gyarados looked puzzled at this and turned towards Richard, who immediately brought out a Poké Ball. Gyarados shook it's massive head and Richard nodded, putting away the Poké Ball. I grinned, knowing that the Pokémon's foolish pride was going to be the end of him.

Gyarados lunged forwards, trying to get a quick hit in on Sparky. Sparky looked up in surprise and involuntarily let loose a Shock Wave. The blue dragon roared out in pain as the powerful electric attack hit it dead on. It crashed to the ground, plowing a deep furrow in the muddy path. It managed to glance Sparky, who was also knocked backwards slightly. I stared at the Pokémon until Richard recalled it, thinking hard about its nature.

I was thinking so deeply (they weren't really deep thoughts. I just was concentrating really hard) that I barely realized Richard's choice in Pokémon. I had been expecting him to send out Combusken, as Magnemite would have been ousted nearly instantly, but instead, a floating grey blob with a skull for a face greeted me. "Duskull…" it moaned.

I blinked and quickly checked the thing on my Pokédex. I shrugged, knowing precisely what to do. "Sparky, use Bite!"

Before Sparky could attack, Duskull's eyes glowed and a sinister-looking ray shot out towards Sparky. The electric cat nearly avoided the attack, but moved a fraction too slowly. He paused for a moment, then cocked his head to the side. Then, he leapt into the air and started gnawing on his own leg. He crashed to the ground and lay there, dazedly.

"He's been Confused, hasn't he?" I said tiredly, recalling him before he could hurt himself any more. Richard nodded and stared at me questioningly. "Shellshock, come on out!"

"Wartortle!" he shouted as he emerged into the pale sunlight. He stared at the ghost Pokémon, obviously wondering what it was doing there.

"Use Bite!" I cried. Shellshock nodded and leapt forward. Duskull shot of another Confuse Ray, but, unlike Sparky, Shellshock seemed in control of its confusion. He missed on the first leap, but caught the ghost within his jaws on the second. Duskull let out an unearthly screech, flashes of light coming from it. Shellshock seemed to grow weaker and weaker, but clung on doggedly. Finally, the ghost went limp and the turtle spit it out onto the ground, glaring at it resentfully.

Richard looked disappointed with his Pokémon, but I knew that he would never think bad thoughts about his own Pokémon. He was just annoyed that I had taken out his surprise so easily. I glowed inside, knowing that I knew things about him that no other people did.

_FOCUS, DARN IT!_ I internally shouted at myself. I looked at him, saying aloud, "Combusken's the only one left, Richard. Feel free to tell me what was bothering you earlier after this."

Richard smirked and withdrew Duskull. He threw out a Poké Ball and snapped his fingers. Magnemite, which I had completely forgotten that I hadn't taken out yet, barreled towards Shellshock at an alarming speed, considering its injuries. Shellshock only had time to Withdraw before the metal ball slammed into his shell, sending electricity coursing through his body. I groaned, saddened that he had taken such damage despite having protected himself against the brunt of the attack.

"You can fight if off," I began, but paused as Shellshock emerged, fully unconscious. I frowned in confusion for a second, then remembered Duskull's last-ditch attempts at taking its attacker down with it. "You did will, Shellshock. Have a break."

I returned him and thought carefully about my remaining options. Well, that was an obvious choice… "Go Sparky! Spark, now!"

Magnemite, who was quite close due to its recent attack on Shellshock, didn't have time to react before Sparky emerged and struck it with its own Spark. Magnemite gave a weak "_Magne…_" before passing out onto the ground.

Richard nodded, quirking his mouth. He withdrew Magnemite and looked at Combusken, who had been watching the entire battle. Combusken nodded and walked into the battlefield. I groaned, knowing that this was undoubtedly his strongest Pokémon and that Richard probably had a million and a half tricks up his sleeve for this Pokémon. Imagine my surprise when Richard closed his eyes and lay down on the path, completely ignoring the fight to come!

"We're in the middle of a battle here!" I shouted in irritation. He cracked one eye open and stared at me. He glanced at Combusken and closed his eye again. I growled, vowing to take his arrogance down a peg or three. "Spark again, Sparky!"

The cat hurtled forward, electricity crackling around its body. Combusken wandered away from its owner over to a small patch of mudless sand. It kicked backwards at the sand with surprising carelessness, causing me to wonder at its actions. However, within the space of a few seconds, it all became very clear to me.

Sparky ran full on into the Sand Attack and gave a short cry of surprise, not halting its forward momentum. Combusken neatly sidestepped the blinded cat and kicked it twice in the side. Sparky tumbled to the ground, where a sharp Peck from Combusken's beak knocked it out cold. I stared at the two Pokémon in shock. Apparently, Richard had managed to pass on some of his tactical genius on to his Pokémon.

I recalled Sparky and almost sent out Steelhide, before I realized that she would stand little chance against the mighty chicken. I groaned in defeat and wandered over to Richard, who was getting up and dusting himself off. Combusken walked over and they exchanged hi-fives. He glanced at Steelhide's Poké Ball, but looked at me understandingly. I nodded, pulling out my wallet. "Well fought, Richard."

As usual, he waved away my money. He put his hand on my shoulder and gently guided me towards the Pokémon Center. I nearly shrugged him off, but decided not to, enjoying the contact. _Okay, that's it. Get a grip, girl! This is Richard we're talking about here! You know, the arrogant, silent boy who would never think badly of anybody, no matter how corrupt, annoying, or just plain bad they are. So what if he has strong Pokémon… a brilliant mind… amazing green eyes… a nice-_

I interrupted my thoughts with a scream so loud that I'm sure my parents heard it, clear across the continent.

* * *

C'mon, if you read, review! Doesn't matter if you did like it, didn't like it, just read it because you were bored, or whatever! Just a simple click, a few words, and you're done! It's that simple. 


	5. Where There are Rockets

And I'm back! After writing this, I realized how long it was between the battle in the tower and the battle in Silph Co. This chapter's even longer than the last one, so be warned...

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. Unfortunately. I purchased the games, but I don't think that counts.

This time, both Dirty Elf and Luda59 get reader points. Hooray for both of you!

* * *

After screaming to try to chase thoughts of Richard's physique out of my mind and scaring the boy away, I healed up my Pokémon and headed over to the tower. After being scared witless by some invisible spook thing, I decided that Saffron City would be more beneficial to my well-being. I thrashed a lot of the trainers; a lot of my Pokémon seemed eager to prove to me that they could be strong like Richard's. One time, Shellshock got a bit carried away and the other trainer was accidentally soaked to the bone. That time, I felt that the trainer didn't need to give me her forfeit, so she could instead use that money to buy herself some new clothes. Hey, I think I did her a favor. I wouldn't be caught dead wearing that outfit. 

Again, when I got to the gatehouse leading into Saffron City, the guard wouldn't let me through. After shouting at him, saying that just because he was thirsty didn't mean he couldn't let me through, I was kindly asked to leave. I was tempted to loose Shellshock on them, but restrained myself. I wanted to get into the city eventually, and I didn't think that attacking the guards was a great way to stay in the city when I did. So, regrettably, I went under the city and around to Celadon.

Celadon City was amazing! There was so much to do there! I went everywhere and did everything, from a multi-day shopping spree in that mall of theirs, to the friendly people, who randomly gave me stuff, to the game corner, where I was kindly asked to leave several times due to me being underage. However, once they saw how much money I was willing to spend (battling trainers can be quite profitable,) they let me stay. I think I stayed a bit too long there, because I amassed one heckuva lot of coins.

Anyways, after getting a comfortable amount, which, coincidentally, was also after I had won the jackpot several times in a row, I walked over to the prize booth and looked at my options. There were cheap Pokémon I could've caught on my own for a lot cheaper than they were offering; there were expensive Pokémon I knew existed nowhere else. However, the Pokémon that caught my eye was a particularly handsome Dratini. I realized that I barely didn't have enough, and quickly dashed over to the Game Corner for some quick coins. After spending the last of my savings, Slipstream the Dratini came into my party.

I realized that I had better get a move on, as I had spent a week in Celadon, and beat Eirika so that I could get her badge and get to the next city. So, with Wisteria's help, I made my way over to the hard-to-reach Gym. Seriously, you'd think that Gym Leaders would make it easy for people to fight them, but no, they have to plant weird-looking plants in the way…

Anyway, I walked in and a bunch of girls immediately set upon me. I sent Cinder out and the game was over before it had begun. Although she was put to sleep, poisoned, and paralyzed repeatedly, she fought harder than she ever had before and managed to get through it all. After healing her with potions and full heals I had brought with me, I decided that only using her would be unfair in these battles. Swiftly after that, I realized that the only other Pokémon I had that would be of any use would be Slipstream, who I hadn't gotten to train at all. Wisteria and Steelhide could probably hold their own, but the battle would definitely be much harder. And so, bearing these in mind, I set off towards Eirika.

The battle was short, but fun. Eirika first sent out a Tangela. Realizing that this was best for Slipstream, I sent her out. None of Tangela's attacks were harming Slipstream, but the dragon rained blow after blow upon the other Pokémon, reducing it to a motionless ball of vines. It was weird; she evolved immediately afterwards! I guess she had been about to evolve when I got her. Anyway, after hugging the considerably longer dragon, I recalled her and waited for Eirika's next Pokémon.

She sent out a Vileplume, to which I responded with Steelhide, figuring that her steel hide would be useful in this situation. This was the annoying battle. Steelhide covered the Vileplume in mud, effectively blinding it, but Vileplume would always manage to hit it with a Mega Drain and restore itself to full health. Steelhide was in no shape to battle, however, so I had to withdraw her. Wisteria came out, which I realized that I should have done in the first place. She really attacked the Pokémon, happy to fight something. Vileplume fainted, and I recalled her, knowing that Eirika was down to her last Pokémon.

The final battle was between Eirika's Victreebel and Cinder. Cinder got a good Fire Fang in, but was swiftly put to sleep and Giga Drained out of most of her energy. She was about to faint when she woke up and let loose a Flamethrower that surprised both me and Eirika. The Victreebel was reduced to a charred mass and I had won the match.

After profusely thanking Cinder for being so cute, yet such a good fighter, I received the Rainbow Badge and another TM. I exited the Gym and headed back to the Pokémon Center. I had healed up my Pokes and was about to head over to Fuchsia City when a duo of Rockets caught my attention. Remembering that Rockets were always up to no good, I set out after them.

Eventually, they led me back to my second-favorite place in the city (after the shopping center of course) the Game Corner. They pretended like they were all stealthy and ninja, acting like nobody was watching them and vanishing behind a poster. I followed them down the stairs into a series of rooms that I hadn't known was there. I shrugged, confident that I could take on any Rocket in my path.

Indeed, except for a room with tiles that spun me around and forced me to go in weird directions, the hideout was a piece of cake. No Rocket could fight Steelhide, who was practically invulnerable to the Poison and Normal moves they were using against her. After a while, I found a large man in an atrocious-looking orange pinstripe suit. Apparently, he was the head Rocket, and seemed not to like me a whole ton for finding his base.

He sent out Onix, which nearly filled the entire room. I decided that Shellshock hadn't battled in a while due to his weakness to Grass, and sent him out. One Aqua Tail later, the Onix was unconscious and Shellshock was strutting around pompously. Head Rocket then sent out a Kangaskhan. The large Pokémon threw a few different punches at him, but, remembering fighting Combusken, Wartortle withdrew and was knocked about, barely taking any damage. He eventually poked his head out sent out a few Water Pulses, confusing the other Pokémon. He kept on bombarding it with different amounts of water, and eventually Kangaskhan was taken down.

After thrashing Head Rocket's final Pokémon (a Rhyhorn, which fared the same as Onix,) the lights went out. A blinding flash of light appeared for a few moments, but swiftly went out. I sent out Sparky, who lit the place up. Head Rocket had apparently snuck out. For a second, I was relieved that he hadn't attacked me. But then I realized that he knew I had strong Pokémon and probably wouldn't attack me without backup. I was just happy that he didn't have stronger Pokémon. Which was weird, considering he was the head of the most feared criminal organization in Kanto, but I wasn't complaining.

I was about to recall Shellshock when I realized that he wasn't there anymore. A low grunt from behind me caused me to spin around. I stared for a moment, then hugged Shellshock in joy, my arms not even making it halfway around his massive shell. He became a Blastoise! Anyway, after trying my best to hug him repeatedly, I walked out and nearly broke my neck on a funny-looking pair of goggles. I picked them up and put them on. I looked around, but nothing happened. I then realized that the instructions were written on the side. Grinning, I set back towards Lavender Town to see what those weird spooks were.

After strapping on the goggles (and looking like some weird villain from a movie) and making sure my Pokémon were fully healed, I set foot inside the haunted tower. Needless to say, I got a lot of strange looks. To top it all off, not a single ghost wandered near me! I chased one around for a while, trying to see what it was, but gave up and settled for climbing the tower. I beat some trainers, accidentally set foot inside some weird ritual area and felt a lot better, and was about to climb to the top floor when I was confronted by an enormous spook! Finally, the goggles helped me out and, with the help of a certain Water-Type of mine, the Marowak faded away… or something. I'm not really sure. All I know is Shellshock blasted it out of the tower and it disappeared. Whatever.

I then went upstairs, beat up some more Rockets (man, those guys are annoying) with ease, and helped some old geezer called Mr. Fuji. My opinion went from "old geezer" to "awesome old guy" when he gave me a Moon Stone, saying something about it being connected to spirits or something, and the Pokéflute, which he said would wake any sleeping Pokémon, any time. I realized that I could now get rid of that pesky sleeping Snorlax and get to Fuchsia City! (My desire to go to Saffron was stifled when I heard that Sabrina's Pokémon were supposed to be a lot harder than Fuchsia's Gym Leader's.)

As I mentioned before, fate really seems to hate me. I was biking to Fuchsia, fighting the occasional trainer (mostly fisherman, of course. But Sparky evolved again (heck yeah!) so it was all good,) when I was thrown from my bike. I looked down and realize that there was an enormous bowl-looking crater in the middle of the road. I asked a passing fisherman what the heck was going on, and he responded with a question, asking whether or not I liked fishing. After saying yes just to satisfy him, he gave me a Super Rod and told me that some kid with a Blaziken had come by earlier and captured the Snorlax. I realized who he was talking about and mentally cursed the boy.

After biking as hard as I could (and destroying any trainer unfortunate enough to be in the way,) I made it to Fuchsia City. I was tempted to go to the Safari Zone, but decided to take on the Gym Leader first. Luckily, getting to this Gym wasn't the hard part. All I had to do was bike a bit from the Pokémon Center and I was there.

No, the hard part, I realized, was finding my way to the Gym Leader. I checked the statue of recent victories and was extremely annoyed to see Richard's name three names from the bottom. A crying trainer rushed past me, cradling an unconscious Linoone in his arms. Cursing the fact that I could see Koga from where I stood, but not the walls separating us, I proceeded to battle my way over to him.

The entire Gym was a piece of cake, in my opinion. Once I figured out the secret to the almost invisible walls, everything else was easy. No trainer could stand up to Steelhide, who was largely unaffected by any attack thrown in her direction. Even Koga, with his Koffings, Muk, and Weezing, couldn't bring her down. The battle was pretty much just the Poison Pokémon trying their best to hurt her while she smashed her head into their stupid-looking faces. What was cool was that she evolved into a Lairon after beating Koga's first Koffing, getting a lot stronger, but less cute. Ah well. You can't have everything, I guess…

Vowing to return to the Safari Zone after I caught up with Richard, I tried to go up Cycling Road to get to Celadon. After understanding how easy it would have been to come down and how hard it was to go up, I decided to go to Saffron City via Vermillion. I biked back up that way, still falling off of my bike when I came to where the Snorlax had been. I cursed Richard again and proceeded into Saffron.

I finally got in because the guard had spotted the thermos of tea an old lady in Celadon had given me. Okay, so I slammed my bag down onto the counter in frustration and the thermos happened to roll out, along with some Great Balls, a Hyper Potion, my diary, and the Moon Stone Mr. Fuji had given me. But hey, at least I can get inside now. The guard swore that he would give the other guards the tea so that I could get in from all sides. Wait a second… he can leave to give the other guards tea? What is with these guards?

After swearing mentally at the guards, I finally ventured into Saffron City. I was so excited to see the fighting dojo, Sabrina's Gym, and everything else the city had to offer. So I was understandably ticked off when I was nearly overrun by a stampede of people running out of the tallest building in the city. However, when I heard mentions of the Rockets, my irritation vanished. And so, following my mantra of "Where there are Rockets, there is trouble," I walked inside. A few other trainers joined me and together we formed The Rescue Team.

The Rescue Team (with the exception of me) was dismal. In two seconds, Rockets had defeated everybody but me. So I was left alone to wander those halls. After saving this one guy and getting the key to all of the locked doors, I proceeded to warp my way through the building, trying to find out where the leader was. Honestly, you'd think they'd make this building with warp points that actually make sense but nooo…

* * *

I stepped out of the warp point and ran smack-dab into somebody, nearly falling backwards onto the warp. However, a strong hand grabbed my arm just as I hit the floor, keeping me from backtracking. I looked up and realized I was staring directly into Richard's green eyes. I felt my face go red and mentally denounced any god who was watching me right now for my accursed luck. "Thanks," I mumbled. 

He heaved me to my feet and looked me up and down. He dusted me off and made sure I was steady. He then turned back to the Rocket, who was cowering under Richard's Blaziken's harsh stare. Blaziken roughly hauled the Rocket to his feet and held the man up, looking at Richard. Richard nodded and Blaziken threw the man at the warp point. It pretended to dust its… claw-hand-things as the man gave a cry that was cut short as he vanished. Richard turned to me, raising an eyebrow.

"I was part of the Rescue Team," I said, chuckling slightly. "Turns out the trainers on said team needed more rescuing than the people in the building did."

Richard nodded and started towards the distant warp point, his Blaziken dutifully following him. His Duskull drifted out of a wall, chanting softly to itself. Richard was about to step on the warp when a scientist ran out from the shadows and grabbed his arm. "Please sir! Help us get rid of the Rockets! You're the only one who can! Here, take this-"

"Excuse me?" I cut in, my competitive nature flaring. "He's the only one who can?"

The scientist nodded vigorously. "Yes, little miss. You haven't seen this guy fight yet, apparently. Oh no, he nearly took out the entire Rocket infrastructure with a single Pokémon!"

I glanced over at Richard, who had put his hand to his face in a most comical fashion. I grinned nastily. "Well, then, we must have a battle."

"Little miss, you must be joking," the scientist said. "This man-"

Richard stepped up, nodding at me. The scientist trailed off and scuttled back into the shadows to watch the fight. He gestured at my Poké Balls, but I shook my head. "I've always been the first one to send out my Pokémon. Now it's your turn."

Richard nodded and pointed in front of him. Duskull drifted slowly over to his finger, still chanting softly. I felt like smacking my forehead. Of course he wouldn't give anything away. Well then, I musn't either…

"Go Wisteria!" I shouted, throwing out her Poké Ball. "Bite, now!"

Wisteria let out a loud cry as she appeared, kicking hard off of the ground when she landed. She propelled herself towards the ghost and caught it neatly between her jaws. She landed again and bit down, causing Duskull to let out an unearthly screech. Wisteria spit it out and walked back to me, eyeing it victoriously. The limp Ghost Pokémon was hovering at the floor, barely able to keep itself up. It gathered the last of its energy and drew itself back. I held my breath in anticipation. Duskull then darted forwards, flying straight through Wisteria.

"That's it?" I scoffed. "What did that do?" My question was answered as Wisteria suddenly fell to a sort of kneeling position. Duskull, on the other hand, looked practically revitalized, dancing a little jig in midair and chanting to itself.

"What was that?" I asked.

"That move is called Pain Split," the scientist piped up from the shadows. "You take the total combined health of the two Pokémon and divide it equally between the two."

"Dang it," I growled. "Wisteria, Bite again!"

Duskull looked at Wisteria, then flew forwards, practically becoming invisible. It slammed into her, knocking her into a file cabinet. The file cabinet, which was bent double, gave a loud creak, then full upon Wisteria's body. I cursed and ran over to her. I put my hand on her hide and realized that she was knocked out. I recalled her and cast a dark look in Duskull's direction. I glanced at Richard, who was looking both apologetic and proud.

"This is only beginning," I snarled more viciously than I had intended. "Cinder, use Bite!"

Cinder gave a yip as she pelted towards the ghost. She clamped down upon it and Duskull let out another shrill cry. Duskull struggled free and floated backwards. "Don't let it get away! Use Fire Fang!"

Flames started licking Cinder's face as she bounded forwards. She bit it again and this time the Ghost Pokémon fell limp. She spat it out and strutted to me, yipping happily. Richard nodded his admiration as he recalled his Pokémon and swiftly ran his hands over his Poké Balls. He grinned and fingered an odd-looking ball I had never seen before. He flicked it into his hand and threw it out. A short grey Pokémon landed heavily on the floor, roaring loudly.

I flipped out my Pokédex and listened to what it had to say. I looked at the Pokémon, then at Richard. "Where'd you get a Rhyhorn?"

He held up the odd-looking ball and grinned. I stared at it, then realized that while I had been shopping like crazy in Celadon, he had been in the Safari Zone. I growled in irritation and realized that there was _very_ little Cinder could do against a Rock-Ground Pokémon. I didn't want to use up Shellshock because if he was knocked out, Blaziken would tear apart my party. "Come back Cinder! Go, Steelhide!"

Steelhide landed in front of Rhyhorn, only coming up to the other Pokémon's shoulder. Rhyhorn looked at the smaller Pokémon unhappily. I grinned, knowing that unlike me, Richard wasn't the kind of person who would withdraw his Pokémon just so he could gain a type advantage. Richard seemed to know this too, looking both irritated and unhappy. I knew this was going to be a relatively short battle. "Steelhide, use Iron Head!"

Steelhide grunted and threw herself forwards, her head shining a bright white. The Rock-Ground Pokémon let out a roar as it charged forwards as well. The two Pokémon collided with a sickening crunch. For a moment, neither of them moved. Then, they both flew backwards a short distance. Steelhide landed on her feet and charged forwards again, her head turning white. Rhyhorn looked unsteady in its feet and was knocked even further backwards as Steelhide slammed into it. It gave a pained roar then fell to the ground, unconscious.

If Richard felt any emotions, he didn't show them. He recalled Rhyhorn and pulled another Poké Ball off of his belt. He threw it out and a familiar enormous sea serpent filled the room. Steelhide cowered under Gyarados' glare, whining slightly. Gyarados glanced at Richard, who nodded. Gyarados' expression turned livid. It twisted its body, smacking Steelhide with its tail. A loud, wet_thwack_ reverberated through the room, causing everybody to wince. Gyarados was about to attack again when I recalled Steelhide. Gyarados let out a roar of irritation, glaring furiously at me.

"Sparky," I managed, belatedly remembering that Gyarados liked to fight to the end of either it or the Pokémon it was attacking. I tossed out Sparky's Poké Ball and he emerged in a flash of light. He glared at Gyarados, who glared right back at him. Sparky looked a bit shocked, but still held its ground. "Charge."

Gyarados, watching Sparky gather electricity, twisted around and shot a multitude of shockwaves and fire. Sparky shrugged the attacks off, still charging electricity. Gyarados tried another Dragon Rage, but Sparky merely ignored it. I glanced down at him, grinning humorlessly. "Remember that move I taught you?"

"Luxray," he said, nodding.

"Use it." Sparky nodded and began crackling with electricity. Lights all around us exploded and electrical outlets shot thin streams of electricity at him. He let out a loud howl and let the gathered power loose.

What happened next surprised me, to say the least. I constantly played that moment over and over again in my mind, marveling at it each and every time. The entire room turned yellow and white with electricity. Gyarados let out a deafening roar and exploded out of the building, trailing bits of the walls, windows, and desks behind it. Richard and I were bowled over. I knocked my head against a desk. Dazed, I stared around. The room had been completely wrecked. Desks had been overturned, file cabinets had been toppled, and papers littered the floor. The scientist coughed, crawling out from under the wall of a damaged cubicle. His glasses had been shattered and his clothes were burned in places.

I looked around, feeling panic slowly well in my chest. "Richard?"

A Poké Ball rolled out from underneath a pile of file cabinets, where Blaziken was heaving the metal boxes away. A quick burst of light later, Machoke appeared, looking around in confusion. He turned back to the cabinets and heaved, lifting them up into the air. Richard rolled away from under them, wiping dust off of his face. He looked worse than the scientist. His hair was doing some Koga thing, sticking straight up into the air. His clothes were in shambles, parts of them completely missing. He cricked his neck and stared around in shock. He stared at Sparky with admiration, nodding slightly. He started, running over to the hole in the wall and looking down. He held a Poké Ball and sent a beam of light downwards, a sad expression on his face.

"Is he okay?" I asked tentatively.

He turned to me and stared expressionlessly. He gave a single nod and turned to Machoke, who was looking at Sparky with an angry glint in its eyes. It hurtled forwards before I could issue a command, forming a Y with its arms. The moment it reached the Electric Pokémon, it dropped to a knee, chopping downwards with both arms. Sparky gave a clipped cry and fell to the floor, unconscious.

"I guess I deserved that," I said sheepishly, recalling Sparky. Imagine my surprise when Richard walked over to Machoke and grabbed its chin, forcing it to look into his eyes. Machoke stared at him for a bit, then looked away in shame. Richard nodded and released its chin, turning to me. He gave me a look, which was a strange mixture of victory and apology. He gestured at my belt.

"Go, Slipstream!" I shouted. The Dragon Pokémon appeared in a flash of light, thrilling happily. "Dragon Rush, now!"

Slipstream sprang forwards, sending her tail flying towards Machoke. The Fighting Pokémon ducked, grabbing hold of Slipstream's neck area. Slipstream immediately wrapped her body around Machoke and began squeezing hard. Machoke let out a shout and dashed for the hole in the building, jumping out into the sunlight.

"Slipstream!" I shouted, running over to the edge. Richard glanced downwards, one of his eyebrows raised over a green eye. Machoke was climbing back up the building, Slipstream hanging limply over one shoulder. After a bit, it made it to our floor, heaving itself over the edge. It gently deposited Slipstream at my feet and looked at me expectantly.

"What've you been feeding that thing?" I said irritatedly, withdrawing Slipstream. "Shellshock! It's your turn!"

Shellshock popped out, letting loose a low "Blaaaaastooooise!"

"Nail that thing with as many attacks as you can!" I shouted, pointing at Machoke. Blastoise leveled its shoulder-cannons at the Fighting Pokémon and let loose a barrage of water. Machoke nimbly dodged the first few, but couldn't dodge them all. After being hit by a speedy shot of water, it resorted to throwing a file cabinet at Shellshock. Shellshock grinned and targeted the file cabinet with both cannons, sending it shooting back towards Machoke. Machoke received the full blow, flying through a thick wall with the file cabinet still on top of it. Richard quickly recalled the unconscious Pokémon and returned the Poké Ball to his belt.

He plucked another Poké Ball off of his belt and threw it out. A weird-looking shape materialized, floating slightly above the floor. The Pokémon looked like three Magnemites who had been stuck together. It focused its three eyes on me and droned, "_Magneton_."

"This might be a problem," I said aloud, recalling Shellshock. Richard's eyes hardened slightly. I could tell that my constant switching of Pokémon was getting irritating, but I reeeeeeally wanted to win this round. "Go Cinder! Flamethrower!"

The Fire Pokémon appeared and quickly let loose a large gout of flame. Magneton gave a shrill beep of pain as the fire slammed into it and let loose a blast of electricity. The electricity struck Cinder, causing her to let out a cry of her own. The two Pokémon stared at each other. One of Magneton's spheres was on fire; an occasional spark of electricity flickered around Cinder's small body.

Both Pokémon glowed slightly and sent forth another large attack. Electricity met fire and, for a moment, nothing happened. Then, an explosion rocked the room. I was knocked off of my feet for the second time this battle, taking care not to hit my head this time. After the flames, smoke, and dust cleared, I got a good look at the area. The floor was completely black and a dark smoke covered the ceiling. Magneton and Cinder lay on the floor, all five eyes closed. Richard, who had been held firm by Blaziken, recalled Magneton as I recalled Cinder.

I gave a small smile as I looked into Richard's eyes. "Well, it's down to this. Shellshock, come on out."

Shellshock landed heavily on the floor, staring intently at Blaziken. The Fire-Fighting Pokémon sauntered onto the floor, cracking its knuckles. The two Pokémon stared at each other for a moment, causing me to hold my breath. Then, at some silent whistle, the two Pokémon attacked each other. Shellshock shot a large ring of water forwards. Blaziken neatly frontflipped through the ring, landing in a sprinter's staring position. It leapt forwards, bringing its hand-claw-thing back. The talons turned black, which surprised both Shellshock and me. Blaziken spun around, scoring a deep hit on Shellshock's armored middle.

"Since when did it know Night Slash?" I asked in amazement.

Richard gave a small grin and gestured for me to keep watching. I looked at Blaziken, who was running around the room, gathering speed as it went. Shellshock, who looked thoroughly annoyed, was roaring and shooting blast after blast of water at it. Blaziken let a small grin wander onto its face as it turned on a pen, dashing towards Shellshock. It bulled into the Water Pokémon, knocking him to the floor. Shellshock, who was upside-down, shot a burst of water at the retreating Blaziken, hoping to catch it off guard.

"Yes!" I shouted as the water collided with Blaziken's left foot, sending it spinning to the ground. Shellshock flipped himself over and sent another shot of water at Blaziken. Blaziken tried to dodge, but wasn't quick enough this time. The water struck it full on in the stomach, knocking the wind out of it. "Finish him off!"

Blaziken looked directly at me and nodded. My eyes widened in surprise as it did a handspring, landing lightly on its feet. It leapt forwards, little balls of light floating around its body. It dodged a blast of water and slammed its fist into Shellshock's stomach. Shellshock let out a roar and fell over backwards. He planted a leg on the ground and tried to stand up. Blaziken darted forwards and landed two quick kicks on Shellshock's side.

"No!" I shouted running over to Shellshock and kneeling by his side. Blaziken sat down a short distance away, breathing heavily. I recalled Shellshock and looked at the large bird, anger stirring in my chest. I had been so close to finally beating him…

I sat up, remembering that I had one last Pokémon. I knew I barely had a chance, but she was still better then giving up right there… "Steelhide, you're my only hope."

Steelhide emerged, still looking slightly shaken by Gyarados' attack. She looked at Blaziken in trepidation and huddled closer to me. Blaziken looked up at her and immediately sprang to its feet. It jumped forwards, aiming its feet for Steelhide's head.

Much to my surprise, Steelhide had already curled up into a tight ball, leaving only her armor showing. Blazkien kicked her solidly in the side. For a moment, nothing happened. Then Blaziken hopped backwards, massaging its injured foot. I looked at Steelhide in amazement, feeling like there was finally a chance of me winning.

"Nice Protect, Steelhide! Finish him off with Take Down!" Steelhide lumbered forwards, gathering speed as she went. Blaziken looked up at her too late. The Steel-Rock Pokémon slammed into Blaziken's stomach, knocking it off of its feet. It lay there, unmoving. Richard stared at it, then at Steelhide, then at me.

"I won…" I said to myself. "I won!" I ran forwards, wrapping Steelhide in a tight hug. "We won! Nice job, Steelhide! We won!"

Steelhide let out a cry and began shining a brilliant white. I was knocked backwards as she swiftly grew and grew, finally stopping when she towered over everybody present. She stopped shining and stared down at me happily. "Aggrooooon…" she grumbled.

"Yes!" I shouted, hugging her tightly. "I knew you could do it!"

"Aggroooon!"

I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around, looking straight into Richard's eyes. He was looking at me with admiration, patting me on the shoulder. I heard a dull thudding noise and spun around. Blaziken was patting Steelhide on the shoulder and looking at her the exact same way Richard was looking at me half a second ago!

"I thought I knocked him out," I said, turning back to Richard. Richard held up a small, yellowish prism-looking thing. I looked at the Revive, then back at him. "I see. Well, it's been great battling you…"

He nodded and turned to his bag, beginning to fish something out. I closed my eyes and held up my hands. "Listen, I am not accepting your-"

I felt him push something into my hands and opened my eyes. A small pile of Revives and different colored Potions rested in my hands. He looked at me and pointed at the warp point at the far end of the room, smiling happily. I grinned back at him and gave him a quick hug. "Thanks," I whispered to him.

He nodded, shouldering his bag. He walked over to the hole Sparky had made and turned around. He waved his hand once in farewell. Then he gracefully fell backwards.

I let out a shout of shock and ran over to the hole. He plummeted downwards, his easy smile never leaving his face. I let out another cry as a red and yellow blur rushed past me, running down the side of the building. Blaziken neatly caught Richard and landed heavily on the ground, forming a large spiderweb-looking crack in the pavement. Richard looked up at me, gave one last wave, then Blaziken sped off, vanishing into the city.

"Your boyfriend really is something," a voice said from behind me.

I whirled around, my eyes falling upon the scientist. "He is not my boyfriend!"

* * *

Remember people, read _and_ review! Thank you and good night! 


	6. To the Indigo Plateau!

Sorry to those who actually read this story as it's updated, but I've been bogged down with a lot of schoolwork. But I've finished the chapter and here it is!

Props to my loyal fans (you know who you are)

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. I own some characters in this story, but that's about it.

* * *

After the scientist gave me what he was going to give Richard (a Poké Ball that vanished the instant I touched it. After yelling at the scientist for a few minutes, he told me that it was a Lapras but, since I already had 6 Pokémon on me, I couldn't hold it any more,) I stepped onto the warp point and teleported to the top floor. I walked down the hall and, after healing my Pokémon, walked over to the double doors and threw them open imperiously.

Well, that was the idea at least. What actually happened was I pushed as hard as I could and nearly pushed myself over backwards. After realizing that I had to turn the handles, I tried again. This time, the doors opened and I strode in. I saw Head Rocket threatening an old couple and announced my heroic intentions. He turned around, we had a brief chat (something about me being a foolish child and him taking over the world or something like that,) and then we began to fight.

Head Rocket sent out a Nidorino, so I sent out my newly-evolved Steelhide. She looked pleased with her new form (she seemed to especially like the fact that she was taller than me now) and proceeded to kick Nidorino's butt. None of its attacks could even scratch Steelhide, while she repeatedly slammed her head into its face. After a spectacular finish, a Body Slam that left a crater in the floor, Steelhide was victorious.

His next Pokémon, a Rhyhorn, was also a piece of cake. Though I was tempted to send Shellshock out, I felt that Head Rocket deserved a humiliating victory: being beaten by a single Pokémon. Rhyhorn was actually easier to take out than Nidorino was. Although it was part Ground-type, it didn't seem to have any decent Ground moves. It tried to do several Horn Drills, but only ended up smashing the table in the middle of the room and boring holes in the walls. A few Iron Heads later and it was out for the count.

Head Rocket was fuming, to say the least, and sent out a Kangaskhan. This battle was much harder. Kangaskhan knew Hammer Arm, which it proceeded to use against Steelhide with delight. Halfway through the match, I had to withdraw her. I sent out Shellshock, who looked furious from being beaten by Richard's Blaziken. He shot Kangaskhan clear through the roof off the building with a blast from both of his shoulder-cannons. He gave a victorious roar as Kangaskhan landed with a painful-sounding crunch.

Head Rocket then sent out his last Pokémon, a Nidoqueen. This fight was over pretty quickly. Shellshock just kept soaking the Poison-Ground Pokémon from a safe distance, barely even taking a hit. I stared at the Pokémon and thought about when I would evolve Wisteria. At that moment, I chose to let her evolve later rather than sooner, so she wouldn't lose out on some of her more powerful attacks.

Anyway, Head Rocket looked kinda ticked off and left in a hurry. The old guy gave me a Master Ball, the most powerful Ball in the world! After we thanked each other profusely, I turned around and walked out of his office. I was tempted to pull some sort of supercool exit like Richard did, but when I saw how high up we were, I decided to do the saner (and safer) thing and use the warp points. After mistakenly ending up on the same floor twice, I finally found my way out of that building. I vowed that I would never using warp points again. Ever.

After healing my Pokémon and going over to Sabrina's Gym, I realized that I would have to break my promise and use warp points again. I growled in irritation and proceeded to take my anger out on the trainers in the Gym. Since pretty much everybody in my party knew some sort of Dark move, the trainers fell without any of us breaking a sweat. After figuring out how the stupid Gym worked, I finally made it to Sabrina.

Sabrina was harder than her trainers (which was expected since she was the Gym Leader but, all things considering, wasn't saying a thing.) After going on this rant about the supreme power of Psychic Pokémon, she began the battle by sending out a Kadabra. I threw Sparky against it and, a Crunch later, the Kadabra was down. Well, the Kadabra got in a Psychic that almost knocked Sparky out. But he still emerged triumphant and that's what matters.

We then both switched Pokémon after that. She sent out a rather feminine-looking Mr. Mime (I've concluded that the name is a misnomer) and I sent out Steelhide. Mr. Mime couldn't do a single thing to her to seriously damage her. After gloating about that for a bit, I sent Steelhide in for the kill. Unfortunately, Mr. Mime made a stupid Reflect, so it took a couple Iron Heads to make it fall. Steelhide strutted about, roaring loudly and disturbing some of the trainers watching. After I finally recalled her, the match continued.

Sabrina sent out a Venomoth. One look at that thing and Cinder hit the field. She had a great time chucking Fire attack after Fire attack at the helpless Bug Pokémon. True, it did put Cinder to sleep once, but Cinder woke up a few seconds later and nailed it with a Flamethrower, knocking it out cold.

Since I wanted to have an epic final fight, when she recalled the unconscious (and very charred) Venomoth and sent out her Alakazam, I took Cinder back and threw out Shellshock. This battle was much harder, but I think both Shellshock and I had a lot more fun. Alakazam threw Psychics at Shellshock, who threw Aqua Tails back in return. The annoying part was that although Alakazam took a lot more damage per attack, it kept using Recover, which dragged the battle on forever. However, after one final Bite, Alakazam fell. I graciously accepted the TM and the Marsh badge and hightailed it the heck outta there.

I realized that I had to make it all the way to Cinnabar Island, but didn't have either a Surf or a Fly HM. So, following up on some rumors, I biked through Celadon over to large building that marked the entrance to Cycling Road. I went off-road to the building attached to the building and, sure enough, some girl was so happy that I'd come by that she gave me the Fly HM. Only after that did I realize that my problem was not having the HM, but the fact that I had nobody with which to fly. Cursing, I took out my anger on the punk bikers on the Road as I made my back to Fuchsia City.

Following up on another set of rumors, I made my way through the Safari Zone to the very end, where I got the prize, the Surf HM. Along the way, I got some cool Pokémon, some cool items (including a set of gold dentures (ew,)) and had a lot of fun. After exiting the Safari Zone, some little kid bumped me and my bag fell again. He recognized the dentures (among the other items that spilled out) and told me to give them to some old man in one of the houses. I did, and got the Strength HM, which I didn't think I'd need, but whatever.

Thus, I started my long trek to Cinnabar Island. I hopped on Shellshock's back and roamed the seas, trying to find the Seafoam Islands. After spending far too long attempting to find them, I asked some swimmer (after I beat him, of course) for directions. As it turned out, I had been going around in circles. Fuming with rage, I made my way over to the Seafoam Islands. I could still see Fuchsia from the beach. Curses.

Anyway, I got completely lost in those darned caves. I spent forever going up, down, left, right, forwards, backwards, and every which way, fighting off Pokémon all the while. There was one room where I couldn't even stay in because the currents were so strong. I did, however, catch a glimpse of an incandescent bluish-white bird in said room that gave off such an aura of frigidity that I'm glad I never encountered it again. It wasn't until after I'd found my way out, made it to Cinnabar (starving, thirsty, and thoroughly annoyed,) healed up my Pokes, and relaxed for a bit that I found out that I had seen one of the three legendary birds, Articuno.

After nearly having a heart attack when I found out, I hurried over to the Gym. I had to wait in line because of the group of trainers that was clustered around the Gym. According to some girl, a brown-haired kid with a Blaziken had found the key to the Gym and unlocked it, enabling everybody to battle. It took me all of two seconds to register who the boy was. Gritting my teeth, I waited patiently for my turn to enter the Gym.

As it turns out, I was the only one who made it all the way through the question-asking machine-things. Man, there are some really stupid trainers. Anyhoo, I arrived, I saw, I kicked butt. Blaine used Fire-type Pokémon. The battles lasted a very short amount of time. His Growlithe got taken out by Cinder (that was a great fight; we could barely tell our Pokémon apart,) his Ponyta by Steelhide (Rock is good against Fire,) his Rapidash by Slipstream (couldn't touch her,) and his Arcanine by Shellshock (easy win.) Steelhide had the worst time, but she pulled through. The basically one-move battles were over in a flash, earning me another TM and the Volcano badge.

On my way back to Vidirian City, where the eighth and final Gym was, I stopped in Pallet Town to say hi to my parents, who were pleased as ever to see me. Karl was amazed to see all of my Pokémon and listened intently to my stories, including my epic battles with Richard and how I took down the Rocket infrastructure. I went through all that embarrassing my-little-girl's-gonna-be-the-next-Pokémon-Master stuff as my parents paraded me around town. Not fun.

I finally made it to Viridian Gym. I was ecstatic when I stepped through the front doors. A familiar feeling of irritation arose when I saw that Richard's name etched on the victory statues. I started through the Gym and realized that it all seemed very familiar. The spinning floor tile things… the brutish trainers… the air of evilness… Once I saw who ran the Gym, I realized immediately what I felt.

Apparently, Head Rocket felt the same way towards me that I felt towards him. We went at it like savages, trying every trick in the book to win. He sent out a Rhyhorn, which I crushed with Shellshock. Forget strategic battling and training my Pokémon evenly, I wanted to win! Anyway, Shellshock pounded through, sending wave after wave of water at the Pokémon. It was unconscious before it could let off a decent attack.

The next Pokémon, a Nidoqueen, fared the same fate. The next Pokémon, however, was Head Rocket's tide-turner. The three-headed Ground Pokémon dug underground, effectively rendering it invisible to Shellshock. It popped up directly underneath him, catching him by surprise and knocking him onto his shell. He was unable to dodge the next attack, which, unluckily for me, was Fissure. Shellshock was instantly knocked out.

Determined to take Head Rocket out, I sent out Slipstream. After an Agility, she could barely be touched. She launched every attack at her arsenal at it, most of them missing, but enough of them hitting to frighten Head Rocket. Even after Dugtrio tried to Dig to escape, she shot underground after it, knocking it high into the air when she found it. It was knocked unconscious upon impact with the ground.

Seeing as how Cinder, Steelhide, and Sparky would be instantly rendered useless and Wisteria wouldn't stand all too much of a chance, I kept Slipstream out. Head Rocket's next Pokémon was a Nidoking, which grew extremely furious when Head Rocket told it that I had knocked out Nidoqueen. It went berserk, which was actually a good thing, seeing as how it was too enraged to accurately land a hit on Slipstream. Well, it landed one hit which nearly took her out of the battle, but she pulled through after slamming it with an Aqua Tail.

Then, the coolest part of the battle happened. Right before Head Rocket was about to send out his final Pokémon, Slipstream began to shine. She began to morph and contort wildly, until finally, she settled down. Still shining, she jumped into the air and began to fly about. She had evolved into a Dragonite! After dancing for joy, I realized that my biggest issue was not winning (Head Rocket sent out a Rhydon, which would easily fall to a few Aqua Tails) but that Slipstream was no longer a suitable name for her. After dispatching the Rhydon with Aqua Tails, I let out a loud whoop of delight. I had won! I had all eight badges! Well, I did once Head Rocket admitted defeat, vowed to stop his evil ways (liar,) and gave me the TM and the Earth badge. I could now go on to the Pokémon League!

And so, I left the Gym, healed my Pokes, and headed off towards Indigo Plateau. Before I left, however, I remembered that I was going to the Pokémon League, where the toughest trainers in the world were gathering. I opened my bag and made a monumental decision. Of course, I consulted with my Pokémon about it, but they seemed to be okay with it. And so I left Vidirian City, with my bag slightly lighter and an Arcanine and a Nidoqueen on my belt. I made my way through the series of guards who had to check that I had all eight badges. Right before I made it into Victory Road, however, a familiar boy stepped out of the tall grass in front of me.

* * *

Quick break from the story for those who are confused.

Ashley has the following Pokémon:

A Blastoise nicknamed Shellshock

A Luxray nicknamed Sparky

A Nidoqueen nicknamed Wisteria

An Arcanine nicknamed Cinder

An Aggron nicknamed Steelhide

And a Dragonite nicknamed... well, Ashley renamed her. But you'll know who she is. It'll be obvious.

Richard's Pokémon do not have nicknames, so if you're confused about who they are, I'd recommend looking them up online. Seriously.

On with the story!

* * *

I gasped in surprise. "Richard!"

Richard turned around, his eyes falling on me. He gave a small grin and held up a finger. He looked back at the tall grass, where a larger boy emerged, looking livid. "Listen, rat, I'll get you, yeah, and your Blaziken too!"

The boy charged off towards Viridian City without a backwards glance. I turned to Richard and smiled. "Still beating up small children with your Blaziken?"

He gave a small shrug and grinned. Blaziken stepped out of the grass, breathing hard and massaging its forearm. It stopped when it saw me and grinned in a way only Richard's Blaziken could. I looked around for Richard's other Pokémon, for I knew he kept two of them out at all time. Imagine my surprise when I saw his Gyarados emerge from behind a boulder, coiling through the tall grass like a snake!

"Well, let's battle!" I said imperiously. I then amended with, "If that's okay with you."

Richard nodded and gestured at my belt. I shook my head. "Let's both send out a Pokémon at the same time, okay?"

Richard nodded again and plucked at Poké Ball off of his belt. I did the same and we both held out our hands. "One…" I started. "Two… three!"

Steelhide landed with a crash on the ground, roaring loudly. On Richard's side, out popped a short greyish Pokémon that looked oddly familiar. It wasn't until it started hopping from one foot to the other and chanting to itself that I recognized it. Grinning to myself, I shouted, "Steelhide, Iron Tail, now!"

Steelhide hurtled forwards, doing a neat pirouette and slamming Dusclops with her tail. Dusclops spun around, eventually coming to a stop. It then began to spin the other direction, gathering momentum until it smashed its fist into Steelhide's stomach. Steelhide let out a roar and bent forwards, biting down hard upon Dusclops' head. Dusclops shrieked and phased directly through her. It landed a few feet away looking almost good as new while Steelhide looked more injured than before.

"Stupid Pain Split," I muttered to myself. "Steelhide, use Shadow Claw!"

Richard's eyebrows shot up in surprise, but Steelhide merely gave another roar and bounded backwards, her claws glowing a creepy purplish color. She slashed down hard and Dusclops let out a shriek even louder than before. I grinned at the impressed expression on Richard's face. "What can I say? You're not the only one with unexpected moves."

Richard nodded and snapped his fingers. Dusclops turned to him, then to Steelhide, then nodded. It raised its hands and then slammed them into the ground. Steelhide let out a roar of pain as the ground rippled outwards, shooting her into the air. She landed on the ground and lay there, stunned.

Before I could utter a command, Dusclops darted forwards, slamming into her. She was knocked backwards into the wall, leaving a small indent. "Why did that seem familiar?" I said as I recalled my unconscious Pokémon.

Dusclops merely looked at me and began chanting again. My hand hovered over my belt as I tried to decide which Pokémon to use next. Finally, after much deliberation (a few seconds,) I sent out my next Pokémon.

"Go, Wisteria! Use Crunch now!" Wisteria landed on the ground and hurtled forwards, baring her teeth. She leapt into the air to attack, but Dusclops sprang forwards, catching her unaware. She was knocked to the ground and slid for a bit. She lay there for a moment, stunned, but quickly scrambled to her feet and tried again. This time, she landed a solid Crunch on the Dusclops, causing it to let out the loudest shriek I've heard it make. It then fell limp in Wisteria's jaws.

"Is that all?" I taunted as Richard withdrew the lifeless Pokémon. He pointed at Wisteria with his finger and Gyarados slithered forwards, glaring at her. She took a step back at the frightening sight, but quickly held her ground. I stared at the two, calculating the probabilities of a Ground Pokémon vs. a Water Pokémon. Wow, that was easy.

"Return Wisteria! Sparky, you know what to do!" Sparky emerged and eyed Gyarados malevolently. Gyarados held its ground, but seemed slightly irritated and unnerved. Electricity began crackling around Sparky's body; Gyarados drew back slightly as if in preparation. Then, at some silent whistle, the two charged at each other. If I hadn't been part of the battle, I would have laughed. The two slammed into each other and bounced apart like superballs. Gyarados flew onto the mountain side and rolled down, hitting rocks and boulders along the way. Sparky flew through a boulder and skipped over the water like a skipping stone. He finally submerged with an enormous splash after a bit.

"What was that?" I asked, more to myself than to Richard. Gyarados slid to a stop right between us, its eyes looking comically swirly. Richard recalled his Pokémon and looked expectantly at the stretch of water separating Victory Road from Viridian. After a minute or two, Sparky finally emerged, panting heavily. He shot an apologetic look in my direction, then collapsed.

"Note to self, don't let Gyarados get anywhere near you," I said, recalling him. I was about to send out my next Pokémon when a bright flash of light attracted my attention. I looked up to see another familiar Pokémon that had one more pair of arms than I remembered it having.

"Machamp!" it shouted, flexing and showing off its muscles.

I grinned and enlarged my Poké Ball. "Go, Jetstream!"

Richard looked at me quizzically at first, but his expression swiftly turned to admiration as Jetstream took to the skies like a shot, flying faster than she looked capable of (which wasn't saying much, seeing as how she looked like a parade float, but still, she was fast!) He rubbed his chin in thought, then nodded and locked eyes with Machamp. Machamp grinned and cracked its knuckles (it had four knuckles to crack and because it cracked them one right after the other without any pauses in between, it sounded very creepy.)

"Jetstream, use Fly!" Jetstream bellowed and flew even higher, becoming a tiny speck among the clouds. Machamp looked up with trepidation and started running around, looking for cover. But Jetstream swiftly came down like an orange meteor, slamming Machamp into the ground and making a large crater. She sat there for a moment, then got up and walked over to me. Machamp pushed itself up onto its elbows, glaring at Jetstream with annoyance.

Surprising both me and Jetstream, it didn't fall like we thought it would, but instead pushed itself to its feet and started walking forward. It quickly broke out in a run, drawing its two right arms back. Its fists began shining a bright bluish-white, very similar to what Articuno looked like. My eyes widened as I realized what it was going to do.

"Jetstream, dodg-" But it was too late. Machamp drove its fists into Jetstreamd's expansive stomach and she let out a loud bellow of pain. She sank to her knees, grunting with pain. Machamp drew back its fists again; they started glowing with ice again. Jetstream cracked an eye open and glanced up at her opponent. Then, with an astonishing burst of adrenaline, she leapt backwards and up, narrowly avoiding Machamp's fists, which slammed harmlessly into a boulder, completely decimating it. She rebounded off of the mountain side and slammed into Machamp, buffeting it with her wings. Machamp tried to fend her off, but was eventually overcome by the blurry wings.

"Yes!" I shouted as Jetstream edged back over to me, looking as if she were about to pass out. Richard recalled his Pokémon and swiftly chose another. By this time, I knew that he had evolved all of his unevolved Pokémon and was not surprised when I saw his Rhydon hit the field. My hand reflexively went to my belt, but I held myself in check. Unfortunately, that cost me Jetstream as Rhydon caused a Rock Slide that knocked her out cold.

Fuming, I chose my next Pokémon. Obviously, I summoned Shellshock, who obliterated Rhydon with one Hydro Pump. I knew that I always had that ace in the hole, as Water was pretty damn good against Rhydon. I felt that this battle was going by a lot more quickly, but I also noticed that I was acting much calmer this time around. I guess it's because I know I trained an extraordinary amount and that we would do our best. I guess it's also because I had ended my losing streak and was coming back.

After that bit of contemplation, when my hand reflexively went to my belt, I let it. I recalled Shellshock just as Richard sent out his Magneton. "Go Cinder!"

Cinder let out a loud howl as she hit the field. She looked a lot more powerful, a lot happier, and a lot more confident than she did as a Growlithe. She bared her teeth at the Magneton, which beeped mechanically back at her.

"Use Flamethrower, Cinder!" I shouted. "Burn that thing to the ground!"

Cinder howled and let loose an enormous gout of flame. Magneton barely dodged to the side and shot off a compact ball of electricity, which missed Cinder by about a mile. Cinder tried again and this time managed to score a hit. Magneton whirred in pain and, to my surprise, fled behind a boulder. Cinder bolted after it, vanishing into the tall grass. She was promptly knocked back out as another ball of electricity slammed into her. She got to her feet and glared at the tall grass, electricity flickering across her body. Magneton floated out after her, humming happily.

"Fire Blast, now!" Cinder opened her mouth and a large ball of fire materialized above her tongue. But before she could let it loose, Magneton let loose a large blast of electricity. Ciner howled and fired off the attack, which whizzed above Mageton's… top sphere-thing. She crouched to the ground in pain, occasionally succumbing to tiny fits of spasms.

"C'mon, Cinder, one last shot! Fire Blast again!" Magneton let loose a beam from each sphere that struck Cinder directly in the head. She howled in pain and fell to the ground. Magneton smugly floated over to Richard, beeping wildly. I groaned and held out my Poké Ball, ready to recall her. However, a movement in the corner of my eye stopped me. Richard was pointing at Cinder's body and staring at Magneton, who beeped at him confusedly. I frowned in confusion.

Suddenly, a five-pronged asterisk of fire flew towards Magneton, slamming into it. Magneton let out a pained series of whistles and fell to the ground, unconscious. I stared down at Cinder, who rose shakily to her feet and let out a victorious howl.

"You were playing dead!" I said in astonishment. "Good girl!" Cinder bared her teeth at me, and at first I was scared. But then I realized that she was grinning at me in her own way and grinned right back. I turned back to the field and mentally ran through Richard's Pokémon.

"Oh crud," I said to myself. Blaziken stalked forwards, eyeing Cinder warily. Something about how it moved snagged my attention, but I couldn't figure out what it was. Ah well…

"Cinder, use Agility!" Cinder barked and started running as quickly as she could. However, her extensive injuries from fighting Magneton combined with her Paralysis caused her to pause just long enough for Blaziken to nail her with its feet.

I nodded, knowing that Cinder had tried her hardest. She had even beaten Magneton, who had always managed to take her out on its own. I recalled her and sent out my last Pokémon. "Looks like it always comes down to this, doesn't it?"

Blaziken, Shellshock, and Richard all grinned. Blaziken crouched slightly, lowering its center of gravity, and spread its arms a little. Shellshock crouched as well, both of his shoulder cannons focusing on his rival. Shellshock stared at Blaziken; Blaziken stared at Shellshock; I stared at Richard; Richard stared at the sky. Wait a second…

"Attack!" I shouted. Shellshock let out a low "Blaaaaastooooise!" and shot a burst of water from both of his cannons. As I had expected, Blaziken dodged to the side and sprinted towards Shellshock with an unexpected speed. Shellshock instinctively withdrew, but Blaziken's goal was never to lash out with its feet or its hand-claw-things. It bodily smashed into Shellshock, sending them both through a boulder. Bits of rock spiraled everywhere and dust arose in a small cloud.

I cocked my head and frowned, staring at the wreckage. I saw a shape that was probably Shellshock push itself backwards into the water. Blaziken emerged, clutching its arm in pain. It walked towards Richard, looking apologetically at him. I stared at the two in confusion, and then it all clicked. "Blaziken's limping," I said loudly. "He was injured in your fights before me, wasn't he?"

Richard nodded.

"Why is he still fighting then?" I asked, a tinge of anger welling up inside me. "This isn't a fair fight!"

"Blaaaaastoise," Shellshock said from behind me.

I turned to him. "What do you mean it doesn't matter?"

"Blastoise."

"Well then the bird's a fool," I said vehemently. "It shouldn't be willing to fight when it's already injured."

Blaziken shot a blast of fire into the sky. We both looked at it. I sighed in resignation. "Fine then. Blastoise, Hydro Pump!"

Blastoise shot water out of both of his cannons. Blaziken managed to avoid one, but was hit directly by the other, smashing it into a boulder. Blastoise stared at it with an unidentifiable look, focusing his cannons again. Blaziken remained immobile for a moment, then pushed itself out of the boulder. I looked at the imprint the Pokémon had made and silently cursed it, Shellshock, and Richard for letting the battle continue.

But my cursing was cut short as Blaziken hurtled forward, little balls of light floating around its body. My eyes widened and I shouted, "Surf now!"

Shellshock let out a roar and shot water out of his mouth and both cannons. The three streams of water combined as short distance in front of him and combined to form an enormous wave. I barely had time to see Richard sprint to the side before the water obscured my vision. The wave swept forwards, destroying everything in its path. It finally dissipated on the mountainside, revealing an expanse of swampy terrain. I looked around. Richard was looking from behind a tree that was barely standing upright, but I didn't see Blaziken anywhere…

It came out of nowhere! Still surrounded by glowing balls of light, it slammed into Shellshock, knocking them both backwards. Both Pokémon lay next to each other, unmoving. Then, after a few moments, Shellshock rolled over and landed on Blaziken, effectively ending the battle.

Richard recalled Blaziken out from under Shellshock, who stood up wearily and grinned. I recalled him and walked over to the other Trainer. "I can't believe you made Blaziken fight," I started. He looked at me reproachfully. "But I know you both wouldn't have it any other way. How about we call this one a draw?"

Richard looked at me and slowly raised one hand. I looked at it, puzzled. He was holding up three fingers. He pointed at himself.

"Yes, I know you've won three times but-"

He then pointed at me.

"What? No, this doesn't count as a win!" I said.

Richard put his hand on my shoulder and nodded. He stared at me and I suddenly saw in his eyes what he was trying to say.

"Okay," I said resignedly. "You win. Well, I win, I guess. Well, we both win... you know what? Forget it. We're tied now. No, I don't want any reward, especially with these circumstances."

Richard nodded, pocketed the money he had offered me, and started off towards Viridian City, waving to me as he went. I paused for a moment, then realized that almost my entire party was out for the count, leaving me utterly defenseless. "Wait up!"

He paused and glanced backwards. I caught up to him and threw my arm around him in a PURELY FRIENDLY FASHION! Just friendly. I swear. "Did I tell you how I beat Head Rocket every time i saw his ugly mug?"

* * *

Remember mates, if you read, review! It barely takes any time at all and motivates an author to write more, ya know?


	7. Top of the World, Part One

Okay, I'ma do things a little different this time around.

Instead of Ashley's adventure and then the battle between her and Richard, I'm just going to do Ashley's adventure in this chapter and do her battle next one. Reason being: this chapter is already so darn long that it'd be insane for me to do it. Plus, it builds suspense. Sorta.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. Well, now I _really_ don't own any Pokémon. But that's a different story...

* * *

Richard and I walked (and Surfed) back to Viridian City. The journey mostly composed of me talking to him and him nodding at me. Still, it was a good bonding experience. It felt good to tell him about everything that happened to me over the past months. We arrived and headed over to the Pokémon Center, where I continued to tell him about my travels. Once our Pokes were healed, we headed out. Still continuing my story, I was talking about Seafoam Islands when I realized that he wasn't walking alongside me anymore. Turning around, I saw that he was waving at me while standing on the road going north. Before I could say a word to him, he started running along the path, followed by his Blaziken and his Machamp. Why would he go in that direction? I have no idea…

Shrugging, I went westwards, through the whole guard ordeal again, and finally got to Victory Road. I fought my way through that accursed labyrinth, fighting and decimating any Pokémon or Trainer (or both) in my way. Aside from the overwhelming amount of time it took me to get through it, it wasn't so bad. Well, there was this one ladder that I tried to climb, but the hatch overhead was melted shut. I couldn't get anywhere near it, it was so hot! I found this extremely strange but, since it wasn't obstructing my path, I ignored it and went on to the Indigo Plateau. Eventually. Man, this Road is long…

Anyway, I finally made it to the Indigo Plateau. I healed up my party and signed up to fight the Elite Four. Apparently, my first battle with Lorelei wasn't scheduled for about a week because there were so many trainers who were ready to fight. After looking around and seeing with some satisfaction that I didn't recognize any of the Trainers (therefore, I was the best trainer from Pallet Town,) I headed back to Victory Road for some training. I spent that week either in Victory Road, fighting the trainers who were waiting, or resting in the hotel.

Then, finally I was able to fight Lorelei. Well, sorta. I had to go through this elaborate security procedure (which took forever) and it took me around half an hour to actually get to Lorelei. When I finally did, I went over and greeted her, happy to meet one of the Elite Four. She seemed like a very nice person, but that didn't matter, because she was one of the best Trainers in the entire continent, so I had to beat her. I had taken the time beforehand to interrogate other trainers about her Pokémon and already had a plan in my mind about how to proceed. After the refs shouted out the rules and all that jazz, the battle began.

Lorelei started it off with a Dewgong. Naturally, I sent out Sparky. Lorelei didn't seem too fazed about this and proceeded to shout out orders with gusto. Dewgong never let Sparky get anywhere near it, so I had to make him use a lot of Thunderbolts and the like. He managed to paralyze it, but Lorelei quickly gave it a Full Restore. Sparky, looking decidedly ticked off, threw a Thunder at Dewgong, which nearly knocked it unconscious. The next Thunderbolt took it out.

Her next Pokémon was annoying and, when I was scoping out her Pokémon, I had had no idea what the heck it was. I eventually figured out that it was called Mamoswine and that Shellshock was pretty good against it, but not vice versa. So, when this spherical Pokémon hit the field, so did Shellshock. A Hydro Pump and a Surf later and that Pokémon was gone. I wanna know more about it though…

The next Pokémon, a Jynx, was the logical choice for her to switch to, considering her other Pokémon (Water isn't all that good against Water, and neither is Ice.) I sent out Cinder, who enjoyed circling the poor Pokémon, peppering it with Flamethrowers and Fire Blasts. Jynx never actually landed an attack, so Cinder emerged unscathed.

Lorelei was looking slightly more panicky as she sent out Lapras and commanded it to immediately attack with a Surf. I knew something like this would happen and had already recalled Cinder in for Sparky. Sparky shot a Thunderbolt at the oncoming wave of water, which then erupted with electricity. Lapras let out a loud cry, but Sparky nailed it with a Thunder, which took it out. Man, he's good at this.

The final Pokémon, Cloyster, was no match for Sparky. Cloyster didn't bother attacking and instead retreated into its shell, so it took a bit longer to kill, but in the end, I emerged the victor. This battle was quick…

Lorelei was a very good sport about it all and commended me on my success. I thanked her and left the arena. I joined a smaller group of trainers in a different room and waited to fight Bruno. Because Lorelei had weeded out the weaker trainers, my fight with the second of the Four was only in two days. I barely had time to recover from the other battle before I was called to fight him.

Bruno was harder, but I had also scoped out his Pokémon and had a strategy. He started with Steelix, which lasted all of two seconds against Shellshock and his water cannons. He didn't look all too surprised at the defeat of that particular Pokémon. I guess it's because Shellshock is so powerful and so good against Pokémon like Steelix…

I switched Pokémon just as he threw out his own. His Hitmonchan was the most problematic Pokémon for me, seeing as how his different Types of punches could seriously damage anybody else, but I was confident in Cinder's ability to win. After one Agility boost, 'Chan couldn't land a hit. Cinder's unnatural hit-and-run abilities shone again in this match.

Again, I switched out as Bruno recalled his unconscious 'Chan and sent out Hitmonlee. Jetstream was the natural choice here, staying out of range until she could fall out of the sky faster than a downed zeppelin. 'Lee landed a few glancing hits, but they didn't damage her all that much. She even managed to land a few hits with those tiny wings of hers. That looked hilarious.

Steelix and Machamp suffered the same fate as Steelix and 'Lee, respectively. Machamp was faster than 'Lee was, but still couldn't take Jetstream out. Bruno acted like Lorelei did, all nice and all. Well, he looked a little peeved at getting whooped by a little girl, but that wasn't my problem. I'd won! I was halfway through the Elite Four.

The next day, I was thrown against Agatha. Creepy old hag. I didn't know her Pokémon as well, but I knew that she was a Ghost-Type Trainer. Any of my Pokémon would do, but I figured I would mainly use Sparky, seeing as how he knew Crunch, and Steelhide, with her secret weapon: Shadow Claw. I entered the arena, filled with weird statues and stuff. She was standing at the other end, with a giant pair of floating eyes and smile behind her. After the judges were ready, the battle was on!

The face materialized into a Gengar that was larger than most. Its grin broadened and it blew a raspberry in my direction. I decided to take it out with the fastest of my chosen combatants and Sparky quickly flew out of the Poké Ball and at the floating Pokémon. He scored a deep Crunch, but Gengar swiftly retaliated with a barrage of attacks, nearly taking Sparky out. Sparky then landed a few more Crunches and knocked out the accursed Pokémon.

Agatha then chose Arbok, which surprised me, but didn't concern me. I recalled Sparky for Steelhide and proceeded to laugh. And own. Arbok couldn't damage her in the least (this is a common occurrence, apparently) while Steelhide used whatever move she felt like using, be it Iron Head, Shadow Claw, or Body Slam. In the end, she emerged practically unscathed while Arbok lay in an unconscious heap on the floor.

Agatha sent out a weird Pokémon, which my Pokédex identified as Mismagius. It was tougher, sure, but it was still another win for me. Steelhide used Shadow Claw after Shadow Claw, while shrugging off most of the attacks Mismagius sent in her direction. This Mismagius was wily, always fading out of sight and attacking from behind. But, nevertheless, Steelhide won. Sure, she was a lot more wounded at the end of this battle than the battle with Arbok, but she still won. She's pretty good at this too…

However, bearing her injuries in mind, when Agatha switched out Mismagius for another Gengar, I let Sparky take the field once more. The problem with this battle was that this Gengar knew Confuse Ray and Hypnosis. After getting a single Crunch in, Sparky was pretty much taken out of commission because of sleep and confusion. While the Gengar proceeded to attack him, including landing a few Dream Eaters, I prayed that Sparky would wake up. Right before I recalled him, he did so and landed another Crunch. Gengar wasn't expecting this, apparently, and barely responded as it was attacked twice more and subsequently knocked out.

Agatha's final Pokémon was a Crobat. After contemplating leaving Sparky in, I switched out for Shellshock, seeing as beforehand I had given him a new move for him to work on before I had faced Lorelei. He wasn't all that good at it, but I knew that we would need it. And so, when he took one look at the Crobat and knew what I wanted him to do, he sent out a not-very-controlled Ice Beam, which froze the Crobat, much to my joy. A Hydro Pump later and Crobat was outta there!

Agatha was creepy, but she was nice when she congratulated me on the victory. She seemed to have faith in the trainers from Pallet Town. Apparently, they were usually the ones to make it to the final member of the Elite Four. Weird. Anyhoo, as soon as my Pokes were healed, they said I was to go against the last of the Four. There weren't any trainers in front of me. Evidently, I was the only one in this batch to make it this far. Sweet!

I had no need to figure out what Pokémon Lance had. I mean, this is Lance, the Dragon Master! Ask any kid on the street what kind of Pokémon the Dragon Master has and that kid will say "Gyarados, Dragonite, Kingdra, Aerodactyl, and Dragonite!" Said kid would also probably add "Duh!" to the statement. That aside, I quivered with excitement as I entered the arena against Lance. This was going to be an awesome battle!

Lance started it off with, of course, his Gyarados. Sparky had already hit the field and the two were glaring at each other. Sparky had fought Gyarados' before (and he had only even been knocked out by one of them,) so he knew to run as fast as he could and shoot Electric attacks indiscriminately. Sure enough, that strategy worked. One down, four to go.

The next battle was Dragonite against Shellshock. Dragonite didn't let Shellshock to do anything; it just flew up to him and started whacking away. Shellshock Withdrew, so most of the damage was avoided, but then Dragonite began lifting Shellshock off of the ground. Shellshock realized that this was probably a BAD thing, so he tried to use Ice Beam. Luckily, it struck the Dragonite and knocked it away. Shellshock seized this opportunity and shot off another Ice Beam. Two down, three to go.

Next battle: Jetstream vs Kingdra. This was undoubtedly the biggest gamble I've ever done in my months of battling, but I think it was the right choice. I knew that Jetstream was fast, and all she had to do was land a solid hit and Kingdra probably couldn't respond. Plus, my only other choice was Sparky, who I didn't want to use up immediately, because otherwise, I had no defense against Lance's Aerodactyl because Shellshock was already severely wounded. Yeah, I think these things through. And so, Jetstream launched off a Dragon Rush, which most, most fortunately, caused Kingdra to flinch. Bam! Another Dragon Rush and it was three down, two to go.

The penultimate battle was Sparky against Aerodactyl. It was going so well, as Sparky had paralyzed and severely wounded Aerodactyl, until Lance used a Full Restore Punk. Anyway, immediately after healing, Aerodactyl hit Sparky with a Hyper Beam. This was bad, as Sparky was instantly knocked out. Seething, but remembering that the Pokémon had to recharge, I sent out Shellshock, who nailed Aerodactyl with his most powerful Hydro Pump yet. Four down, one to go.

Final battle: Jetstream versus Dragonite. Now, _this_ was the greatest gamble I've ever made. This was solely based on Jetstream paralyzing the other Dragonite with Dragonbreath and then using Shellshock's Ice Beam. It was good in theory, except that for once, the odds weren't on my side. Dragonite was wounded by the Dragonbreath, but responded in kind with an Outrage. Jetstream was taken out, Shellshock, who I had hoped would be able to land the Ice Beam, was knocked out, and Wisteria, who I had hoped would at least do something, was knocked out. Finally, it stopped. I seized the opportunity (and the Poké Ball containing Steelhide) and sent her out with an Iron Head. Dragonite tried to attack her, got confused and ran into a wall instead, and was taken out by Steelhide's Double Edge (she had missed with her Iron Head attack.) Five down, victory is mine!

Despite losing four Pokémon, I had beaten Lance! Sweet! I was the best! Or at least, I thought so, until I was reminded that I still had to fight the League Champion, some nerd named Winston. So, I healed my Pokes, slept (or tried to,) and the next day came. I learned that I had one week while the event was organized. On the seventh day, I was ordered to sit on a bench and wait for my name. After waaaaay too long, they finally called me. I walked through the corridor and out into the blinding sunlight.

The stands were packed with people. I mean, packed. There was probably all of Kanto in this place. I walked to my pedestal and climbed the ladder, waving to the crowd. I put on the headset and took a deep breath, feeling adrenaline course through my body. This was it! This is what I had battled all this time for. Shellshock, Sparky, Wisteria, Cinder, Steelhide, Jetstream, here we go!

Winston decided to start things off with a bang. Literally. I sent out Sparky because I knew how fast he was, but Winston sent out an Electrode. I did NOT know those things could move that fast but it did. It raced over to Sparky and before he could react… BOOM. They were both out for the count. Odd beginning strategy, but whatever.

Feeling slightly ticked off, I sent out Steelhide, ready for any more tricks like that. He simultaneously sent out an Infernape, without even looking at whom I had sent out. I raised my eyebrows in surprise. The nerd was good; I'll give him that. He had anticipated my move and had planned accordingly. Infernape was the optimal choice against Steelhide. However, I knew a thing or three about how to deal with this situation. All it took was a Protect to seriously cause that Infernape to hop around in agony. Before it could attack again, Steelhide unrolled herself, scraping at the ground with her tail. Sharp shards of stone crashed into the Infernape, causing it to fly backwards, wounded. Another Stone Edge and it was outta there!

Looking very annoyed, Nerdboy withdrew his unconscious Infernape and sent out another Pokémon. It was the artist Pokémon, Smeargle. Interesting choice, but what do I care? I ordered Steelhide to take it out, but before she could, the Smeargle used Spore, putting her to sleep. Instead of seizing the opportunity to attack her, it proceeded to use Agility. When Steelhide didn't wake up, it used Double Team, surrounding her completely with Smeargles. Finally, she woke up. She took one look around and leapt into the air, intent on hitting them all with Earthquake. But then Smeargle used a Water move so powerful, it launched her into the sky and nearly out of sight. I recalled her just before she started to fall. It was afterwards that I found out that this move was called Water Spout.

So, I sent out Jetstream. She zipped around, attacking Smeargle after Smeargle, trying to find the right one. It repeatedly bombarded her with Water Spout, but she wasn't all that wounded. Eventually, using a fancy set of aerial maneuvers and Dragonbreaths, she faked out one of the Smeargles and blasted another. The images all vanished and the wounded Pokémon glared at her. She bellowed and leapt over, planting her butt onto its face. What a way to go.

After she ceased sitting on the poor Pokémon and Nerdboy recalled it, he sent out a weird Pokémon that my Pokédex identified as Froslass. The name sounded icy to me, so I recalled Jetstream for Cinder. Nerdboy made as if to recall his Pokémon, but Cinder nailed it with a Flare Blitz. It must have criticalled or something, because the other Pokémon was instantly knocked out. Man, the gods must really like me to give me all of this good luck!

Nerdboy looked ready to throw a tantrum as he sent out an Espeon. It managed a Psychic, but Cinder soon had it in her jaws and was happily Crunching down upon it. Right as Cinder was about to win, the Espeon managed to escape by suddenly turning into a baton. Well that was weird. The baton turned into a Mawile, who looked no happier than the previous occupant of Cinder's jaws. Cinder didn't look all to irritated, choosing instead to use Fire Fang instead. Mawile bit back with its massive jaws, but Cinder clung doggedly (get it?) on, eventually coming out as the victor.

Nerdboy sent out his mostly-wounded Espeon, looking like he was about to cry. For half a second, I hesitated, feeling for the little dude. Then, his Espeon knocked Cinder out with one final Psychic. Blasted kid. Feeling no remorse, I sent Jetstream out and told her to use Hyper Beam. She did so and proceeded to blast the Espeon into the ground. For a moment, while the dust settled, nothing happened. Then, the crowd went wild. I stood on the podium with my arms crossed, enjoying the victory. Jetstream circled above me, bellowing loudly. I had won! I was the Champion of Kanto!

The next day, early in the morning, I was summoned to the arena again. I gladly went, thinking that this was about my victory and all that jazz. Imagine my surprise when I climb the podium and there's another Trainer standing at the other end. I put on the headset and find out that her name's Cat and that she just finished with Lance. A challenger so quickly? Bring it on.

Remember how the gods of luck were shining upon me yesterday? Well they seemed to be with Cat today. I started with Sparky, but she started with a… (Pokédex check) Bastiodon. Like heck am I fighting against that with Sparky! I switched out for Shellshock, but she simultaneously switched out for a… Porygon Z. Well that isn't too bad…

One Zap Cannon and a Thunder later and I decided that it was definitely bad. I recalled my unconscious Shellshock for Wisteria, but then Cat sent out a weird (but really cool looking) blue Cloyster, as opposed to Lorelei's purple one. I switched Wisteria for Sparky, but Cat merely sent out her Bastiodon again. Man, she was getting annoying at this…

Deciding to do her one better, I recalled Sparky for Cinder, anticipating a Grass-Pokémon. Unfortunately, Cat seemed to be a psychic, as she sent out her Cloyster again. After swearing into the headset (and probably offending families all over the world,) I sent out Sparky again, seeing as how the Cloyster was strong against everybody else. Again, she switched out for Bastiodon. Irritated, I sent out Jetstream, completely arbitrarily. Cat sent out a Crobat. This, I could deal with.

Or so I thought, until it nailed Jetstream with a Confuse Ray. I told Jetstream to Fly just as Crobat let loose a stream of Toxic goo. She had avoided the attack, so luck seemed to be back with me. Well, until Cat recalled Crobat and sent out her Cloyster yet again. I screamed at Jetstream, trying to get her to stop, but she didn't respond, instead pelting towards the waiting Pokémon. Cloyster grinned and let loose an almighty Blizzard, instantly knocking Jetstream out.

I shouted aloud, recalling Jetstream and sending out Sparky. _Yet again_, Cat sent out Bastiodon. I swore more heavily than before and figured that enough was enough. I had Sparky launch a Thunder that struck the other Pokémon right in the face. Bastiodon shuddered, but reared up, slamming the ground when it landed. Sparky tried to jump and avoid it, but didn't make it in time. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

I felt tears of frustration begin to enter my eyes, but I quickly wiped them away. I sent out Cinder, hoping that she would be fast enough to score a decent hit. But instead of letting her Bastiodon be attacked, Cat recalled her Pokémon, sending out her shiny Cloyster. I ordered Cinder to use Fire Blast; she ordered Cloyster to use Hydro Pump. The two attacks met in midair, scalding hot steam quickly filling the arena. I couldn't see a thing. After a while, the steam cleared away and the scene was revealed. Cinder was lying down in front of my pedestal while Cat's Cloyster sat at the other end virtually unscathed.

I sent out Wisteria, feeling my lifelines slipping away one by one. Wisteria managed to avoid a Hydro Pump, shooting Toxic goo at the Cloyster. The Cloyster accepted the attack, choosing to take the time to carefully aim for Wisteria. Before I could recall her, she was nailed with Hydro Pump. The Cloyster looked slightly weaker, but still strong enough to take on my final Pokémon.

Grudgingly, I sent Cinder out. She put up a valiant fight, running about and making it nearly impossible to Cloyster to hit her. But Cloyster eventually began shooting water everywhere, even nowhere near Cinder. At first, I had no idea what it was doing. But eventually, the arena began to fill up with water. Cinder had a progressively harder time dodging the blasts and was finally struck with a Hydro Pump, falling unconscious into the water.

Wiping unshed tears from my eyes, I stepped off of the podium, feeling shamed to be the Champion with the shortest term in history. Cat walked over and I sighed, extending my hand. She made as if to shake it, but withdrew her hand at the last second, choosing instead to insult and jeer me. It took all I had not to burst into tears at that very moment. I turned around and ran right into somebody. I tried to brush past them, hiding my eyes, but they grabbed me and pulled me into a warm hug.

Shocked, I looked up. Richard was staring down at me, his eyes full of comfort and compassion. I closed my eyes and put my head on his chest, beginning to weep softly. I heard Cat make another snide comment, but she suddenly fell silent. I peeked out and saw that she was staring in my direction with trepidation. I looked around and realized that Richard was glaring at her with more anger than I had ever seen. I also saw that his Blaziken and his Gyarados had similar expressions on their face. Man, Gyarados looked _scary_…

Anyway, Cat backed off. I thanked Richard and hurried off to my room, too shamed to speak to him. He didn't follow me, which I was kind of thankful for. I would have spent the day in my bed had it not been for somebody knocking on my door. I didn't answer it, but they told me that the Champion had been challenged. I looked up and asked who the challenger was. Three seconds later, I was halfway to the stadium, leaving the poor bellboy trampled to death on the ground outside my hotel room door.

I arrived at the stadium just as Cat put on her headset. As I had emerged behind her, I couldn't see her opponent. I ran around a bit, getting a better vantage point. I let out a huge grin as I saw Richard stand imperiously on the podium, his arms crossed and his glare intense. Blaziken stood next to him in an almost identical position (this looked really awesome.) His Magneton was floating next to him and, at the refs' whistle, descended to the field.

Cat smirked and sent out her Bastiodon. Richard's eyes shimmered in a way that made me uneasy and the corners of his mouth curled up sinisterly. Magneton began glowing, electricity crackling all around it. Cat's smirk grew and she ordered her Bastiodon to use Earthquake. Bastiodon reared up and landed, sending ripples throughout the arena. Magneton merely rose a few more inches off of the ground, completely ignoring the heaving ground underneath it. Cat frowned and ordered her Bastiodon to use Fire Blast. Magneton drifted to the side, still charging electricity. The five-pronged asterisk whizzed towards Richard and I let out a gasp. Blaziken grabbed hold of him and leapt into the air. The podium was destroyed and the pair landed back on the ground. Magneton looked back at Richard, who nodded.

This Thunder was even greater than the one I had Sparky use was back in Silph Co. It nailed Bastiodon right between the eyes and it let out a prehistoric roar. It fell unconscious, slumping heavily to the ground. Magneton whirred happily as Cat recalled her Pokémon. She sent out a Breloom, a Pokémon she hadn't used against me. To my great surprise, Richard recalled Magneton, choosing instead to send out Rhydon.

I wondered aloud what he was doing and, even though I hadn't expected an answer, an old woman to my right answered. Apparently, she had seen out little altercation earlier today and told me that Richard was taking revenge against Cat by using the ultimate insult: switching into Pokémon weak against her own. I told her that this method couldn't possibly work, but then she told me something that truly made me appreciate how good a trainer Richard was. According to various people, Richard had been seen all over the continent, training his Pokémon for battles such as this. He had been using his Rhydon and Blaziken in Seafoam Islands, his Dusclops in the Lost Tower, his Machamp in a secret cave near Cerulean filled with Psychic Pokémon, his Magneton in Victory Road, even his Gyarados in the Power Plant near Lavender Town.

Unfortunately, this conversation made me miss the battle between Rhydon and Breloom, but I can tell that Richard won easily. Rhydon was stomping around, roaring victoriously, while Cat was angrily switching Pokémon. Looking determined not to lose, she threw out her Shiny Cloyster. Richard shrugged, moving his hand away from his belt. Cloyster shot out a Surf, quickly jumping on top to ride the wave. Rhydon looked casually up as the wave bore down upon it. There was no way for his Rhydon to escape. Half of me really wanted it to survive, but the more realistic side of me knew that it stood no chance.

A few seconds later, the realistic side of me threw up its hands in defeat while the other half of me cheered. Rhydon had jumped onto the wave and was riding it with all the ease of a natural surfer. It easily slid up and along the wave, eventually resting next to the shocked Cloyster. Rhydon let a triumphant grin creep across its face as its horn began to spin wildly. Cloyster's eyes widened and, despite Cat's command for it to get rid of the wave, retreated into its shell. Rhydon dove forwards, smashing into the Pokémon. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the pair flew off of the wave, which dissipated, and landed heavily on the ground, Cloyster on the bottom. Rhydon roared and got off of the unconscious Pokémon.

Cat, looking positively livid, recalled her Pokémon and sent out yet another Pokémon I hadn't seen before… Slaking. After staring at the Pokémon for a bit, Richard withdrew the barely-scathed Rhydon and sent out his Dusclops. Slaking looked slightly annoyed, but didn't otherwise react. Dusclops stared at it for a bit, then began dancing from one foot to the other, chanting as usual. Reclining on its side, Slaking Yawned, covering its mouth afterwards. Dusclops disappeared into the ground and avoided the attack, coming out after a short while.

Cat shouted a command and Slaking lazily lifted up its fist, slamming it onto the ground. Dusclops walked over to the Normal Pokémon, tumbling each time a ripple passed under its feet. After the Earthquake stopped, Dusclops planted both of its hands on Slaking's body and closed its eye. Slaking gave a roar and rolled over as Dusclops happily began chanting to itself again, looking as healthy as ever.

Slaking swung its fist at Dusclops, but it passed directly through. Dusclops' eye widened and little balls of fire began floating around Slaking. It gazed stupidly around at them, taking a swipe at one that came too close. Dusclops clapped and the balls all zoomed towards Slaking, bombarding it repeatedly. Slaking roared and swiped at Dusclops again, this time hitting it. Dusclops barely winced; instead, it drew back its fist, which crackled with electricity. It threw its Thunderpunch at Slaking, who rolled away slightly. It then drew back its other fist, which began glowing a bright white, and closed its eye, concentrating hard. Cat's eyes widened and she shouted out a command, but Slaking didn't respond. Dusclops opened its eye and punched with all of its might. Slaking flew backwards, slamming into Cat's podium and causing it to buckle slightly.

Cat tumbled forward, gripping the railing until the podium stabilized. She furiously recalled Slaking and threw out another Poké Ball. A purple Pokémon popped out, flying around swiftly. Richard eyed the Crobat for a moment, then withdrew his Dusclops and threw out his Machamp. The Fighting Pokémon grinned as it cracked all four of its knuckles. Crobat screeched and dove towards Machamp, streamlining its body to increase its speed. Machamp merely sidestepped and the entire stadium laughed as the hapless Crobat plowed right into the ground. Machamp's grin widened as it drew all four of its fists back. One fist was encased in flames; one was crackling with electricity; one was glowing a whitish blue; one was drawn farther back than the rest and glowing pure white.

Three seconds later, the Crobat was unconscious and so high up in the air that it was nearly invisible. Seething, Cat waited for it to fall so that she could recall it. It took a bit, but it soon came streaking towards the earth like a falling star. Right before it hit the ground, she recalled it and sent out her final Pokémon, her Porygon Z. I knew exactly which Pokémon Richard would use. And, just as I had suspected, Machamp was recalled and Gyarados hit the field, roaring loudly.

Porygon Z shot off a blast of electricity, which barely missed Gyarados. Gyarados started doing some weird, mystical dance, seemingly ignoring the Porygon Z. The Normal Pokémon, looking slightly annoyed at being ignored, shot off a Thunder at the dancing Pokémon. Gyarados dodged the electricity so easily that it looked like the action was part of the dance. Looking angrier than ever, Cat pointed at Gyarados, shouting powerful attacks at the top of her voice. Thunder, Fire Blast, Blizzard… I knew that if Gyarados didn't stop dancing and actually began fighting, it was dead.

Gyarados' face contorted into a cruel sneer as it stared at the minute Pokémon in front of it. Porygon Z let loose another Thunder, which headed directly for Gyarados. Now, I had thought that I had seen the extent of Richard's training, but what happened next really surprised me. Gyarados shot off a Thunder of its own and, although the attack wasn't as powerful, it managed to cancel out Porygon Z's attack. Cat's Pokémon tried a Blizzard, but that too was cancelled out by a Blizzard from Gyarados. The same thing happened for a Fire Blast. Finally, it sent out a Hyper Beam so powerful that I knew Gyarados couldn't counter.

As it turned out, it didn't. Instead, Gyarados did a barrel roll, letting the Hyper Beam pass harmlessly by. Well, Blaziken had to grab Richard and jump out of the way of the attack again, but that's not the point. Gyarados slithered towards the recharging Porygon Z with alarming speed, yellow-orange streams of light flowing from its body. Soon, a purple cocoon began to form and Gyarados began to corkscrew rapidly. Cat's eyes widened and she shouted out an attack, but she could do nothing about it. Gyarados' Giga Impact slammed into the tiny Pokémon, sending it flying higher than Crobat had.

Cat gaped in astonishment as she stared at her flying Pokémon. Well, in its direction. I couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction at the crushing loss she just suffered. I tried to muscle my way through the ecstatic crowd, but to no avail. The second she could see Porygon Z, she recalled it and vanished. Not literally, but she sure as heck sprinted out of sight. Imagine, only being Champion for a few hours…

Anyway, after the crowd died down a bit, I was able to run into the hallways and try to find Richard, who had also vanished. I searched the public areas for him, but didn't find him. The hotel clerk wouldn't let me know his room number either. Something about rabid fangirls. Frustrated, I left the hotel, wandering nowhere in particular. Just as I turned the corner, I saw Cat angrily shouting at somebody who was hidden in an alleyway. Curious, I walked closer. I could see the tears in her eyes and streaking her cheeks and felt an aura of… insanity about her. She snarled something that sounded uncomfortably similar to "Hyper Beam" and pointed with her finger.

I saw a bright flash of light, but otherwise nothing happened. I ran over to see her Porygon Z floating slightly in front of her, a familiar-looking Blaziken kneeling and looking thoroughly beat up, and Richard, who was looking irritatedly at the girl standing in front of him. Cat glared at me, making a cruel insult about Richard as she did so. Richard smirked, shaking his head in mock despair and signaling for me to stay put. Cat, looking very ticked off due to the lack of negative response, then made a cruel jest about me and my Pokémon. I got really annoyed, but one look at Richard and I knew that he would take care of it.

Richard's eyes had hardened, as had Blaziken's. Little balls of light had begun swirling around Blaziken as it stood up, completely ignoring its recent injury. Cat's eyes widened and she fumbled at her belt, trying to get her Poké Ball to recall Porygon Z. But, before she could, Blaziken leapt forward, driving its fist into what could be considered Porygon Z's gut. For the second time in as many hours, Porygon Z went flying. Cat began screaming and throwing a fit, banging her fists on the pavement and the like. It was scary.

Anyway, Richard had Blaziken pick the girl up, restraining her as she thrashed about. He walked out of the alley and towards the hotel, completely ignoring the looks thrown in his direction. Blaziken followed him; I jogged alongside him, not knowing what to say. Finally, as we approached the hotel, I congratulated him on his victory and gave him a hug. He stared at me, surprised. I grinned and waved, picking a Poké Ball off of my belt. Two seconds and a flash of light later, Jetstream stood alongside me, ready for takeoff. I hopped on her back and, with one last wave at Richard, flew off into Kanto.

I spent the next month training as hard as I could. I trained like Richard did, or was rumored to have done, at least. I visited the Power Plant and trained Shellshock there. Well, it took a few tries and many visits to the Pokémon Center, but I think we made progress. I flew to Cinnabar and visited the Seafoam Islands, training Jetstream, Cinder, Steelhide, and Wisteria. Again, I made a large number of trips to the Pokémon Center. Oh well. Finally, I trained Sparky and Cinder (again) at Victory Road. They did a bit better, but I still had to heal 'em a lot too.

After a month or so, I finally decided that I was sorta/kinda/maybe ready to fight Richard. I had trained my Pokémon hard, had worked them to the bone, but I still knew that he was an expert trainer with more tricks up his sleeve than a magician. Nevertheless, I pressed onward. I asked whether or not I had to fight the Four again, and, luckily, I didn't have to unless they wanted a rematch. Unluckily, all of them, with the exception of Agatha, wanted a rematch. Drat.

And so I kicked their butts just like I did last time. Lorelei was about the same, difficulty-wise, Bruno was about the same, and Lance was harder (which was saying a lot.) I was at the top again. Richard hadn't been toppled (obviously,) but I didn't want to face him right away. I spent another week training as hard as I could, forcing my Pokémon to their limits. They never complained though; apparently, they knew that they needed work if they were ever gonna beat their rivals.

When that week had passed, I registered my challenge. The officials said that I had to wait a while because certain people had to be notified. I had forgotten that you were supposed to register the challenge and that only after registering did you had a week to actually battle. After remembering something that had been bugging me for a while (why Richard could fight only a day after I had) and doing some interrogating, I found out that Richard had apparently registered to fight the Champion before I had the previous time, but hadn't actually battled until after me. Sneaky.

So, five days later, I walked into the stadium, listening to the pulsating cheers of the crowds. I climbed my podium and put on my headset, closing my eyes. I took a deep breath, held it, then let it out. I opened my eyes and stared right at Richard, who was staring proudly back at me. His Blaziken was leaning on the railing next to him, smiling expectantly. His Gyarados was coiled around the podium, a savage grin on its face. I felt a smile of my own creep onto my face as I whispered "good luck" into my headset. He nodded and held his hand out to me, indicating that he wished the same to me. And so, 10 months, 13 days, 3 hours, and about 19 minutes after I had gotten Shellshock and begun my adventure by losing to Richard, the ultimate battle between us began.

I had never felt so nervous in my life.

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If you read, review! Be sure to tell me what you liked... what you didn't like... mistakes... plot holes... confusing parts... anything... just review! Thank you and good night!


	8. Top of the World, Part Two

At last, the final battle between Ashley and Richard occurs! Will I let Ashley win, seeing as how she's the protagonist? Or will I let Richard win, seeing as how his Blaziken kicks oh so much... butt. If you want to find out, continue reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémans. Quit rubbing it in.

Props to the loyal fans who've kept me going throughout this.

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"At the request of one of the parties," the announcer shouted. "The battle will consist of six single-Pokémon matches. The winner will be decided by whoever has the most knockouts at the end. If a 3-3 match tie occurs, both sides must choose a seventh Pokémon to fight with. At the end of each match, the winner will be the one to choose the next Pokémon so as to be fair. Do both parties agree to these rules?"

Knowing that I didn't have a seventh Pokémon that I could depend upon, I nevertheless nodded. Looking across the arena, I saw Richard carefully watching me. As I gave my approval, he gave a small grin and nodded as well. I hope he doesn't have a back-up… "Seeing as how both contestants agree, let the games begin!"

Needing to cool my nerves, I brought the mouthpiece of the headset closer. "Do you want to go first?"

Even from across the battlefield, I could see Richard grin. His fingers drummed on the railing and Gyarados slid forward, raising its head to look at me. I knew exactly which Pokémon to send out, not because of the type advantage (although that sure as heck helped a lot) but because the two had duked it out ever since they were no taller than my knee. "Come on out Sparky!"

Sparky landed on the field, its glare settling upon Gyarados. They stared each other down, neither of them making a move. The audience had hushed down, so the only sound that could be heard was the slow whistling of the wind. I glanced at Richard, who was looking at the two Pokémon with interest and nodding as his Blaziken whispered something to him. Suddenly, Sparky and Gyarados gave triumphant roars and, grinning madly, leapt at each other.

"Sparky, if you're gonna get in close, use Spark!" I shouted. Sparky dodged over Gyarados' tail, his body crackling with electricity. Gyarados used its body to push itself off of the ground, contorting into a corkscrew-type shape and avoiding the attack. Instead of crashing into the podium like everybody expected him to, Sparky rebounded off of it perfectly, careening towards the back of Gyarados' head. This time, the serpent wasn't able to dodge and recieved the full power of the attack.

It roared, twisting backwards and throwing Sparky into the ground. Using the fin on the end of its tail, it launched the dazed Pokémon into the air. Coiling its massive body, it sprung up after him. It reared back and caught Sparky on its head, turning back towards the ground. It landed face-first on the ground, causing ripples to spread throughout the ground. The podiums shook slightly, but otherwise remained undamaged.

"Sparky!" I shouted, knowing that the Earthquake would have severely weakened him. I heard a howl and saw him clinging the side of Richard's podium, eyeing the heaving ground warily. "Nice job, Sparky! Use Double Team!"

Sparky leapt off of the podium and hit the ground running, sprinting as fast as he could around the arena. Every second or so, he appeared to clone himself, until there were countless Luxrays running around the arena. Gyarados raised its head again and I knew that Sparky had to act fast. "You know what to do!"

The countless Luxrays nodded and leapt at Gyarados, both to attack the Water-Flying Pokémon and to avoid the second Earthquake. A wicked grin spread across Gyarados' face and it began to spin faster and faster, quickly surrounding itself with dust. My eyes widened as I saw what was going on and I shouted out in panic, but I knew it was too late. Gyarados spun out its tail, sending the Twister hurtling through the myriad of illusions and scything through them until it found the real Sparky.

Howling, Sparky was thrown to the ground again, bouncing and rolling until he skidded to a stop. The illusions all vanished and Gyarados whirled around, its predatory gaze falling upon the weakened Pokémon. It began slithering towards him, gathering speed and emitting yellow trails of light. Soon, it was surrounded by a purple force, continuing to gather speed. I knew that if that Giga Impact hit, this match would be done for. "Get up, Sparky!"

But Sparky merely lay there, not moving an inch. Gyarados bore down upon him; the audience held their breath. Suddenly, Sparky's eyes flashed open and he grinned maliciously. Springing to his feet, he casually sidestepped, watching as Gyarados barreled by, completely out of control. It crashed into the side of the stands, bouncing off and sliding along the walls. "Nice job Sparky! Now Charge up!"

Sparky gave a howl and began glowing. Electricity shot towards him, surrounding him in an incandescent shell of energy. Richard's eyes widened and I knew we were both thinking about Silph Co. Apparently Blaziken was too and stood protectively in front of Richard, its arms forming a cross in front of the pair. Sparky looked back at me, a feral light dancing in his eyes. I nodded, thrusting out my finger and shouting imperiously, "THUNDER!"

Sparky unleashed the pent-up energy. The electricity gave an eerie shriek as it flew through the air, crashing into Gyarados' body. Gyarados was lifted into the air and slammed into the walls, creating a large crater. The audience shrieked and fumbled to get away as cracks slowly crawled towards them. Gyarados rested there for a moment, then plummeted to the ground, looking charred and completely out for the count. "Aaaand the winner of the first round is Ashley and her Luxray, Sparky!" the announcer shouted.

Richard held out a Poké Ball, recalling his unconscious Pokémon. After endlessly praising my victorious Electric Pokémon, I recalled him, carefully deciding which Pokémon to send out. I then remembered that it didn't really matter, so I just chose a random Pokémon. "Go Steelhide!"

Steelhide let out a loud roar as she landed, her armor glinting brightly in the sunlight. Richard grinned as he threw out his Safari Ball, just as I had expected him to. However, what popped out of the ball was not what I had expected. It was taller than a Rhydon, but considerably uglier. Flicking out my 'Dex, I was informed that it was, in fact, a Rhyperior, the evolved form of Rhydon. Cocking my head to the side as I closed the red device, I visually analyzed the Pokémon. "Steelhide, Protect!"

Steelhide curled up into a ball not a moment to soon. Rhyperior slammed the ground with its mace-like tail, sending an Earthquake shooting through the ground. Steelhide was bounced around like a basketball, but remained unharmed throughout the attack. Eventually the ripples subsided and she uncurled herself, standing up almost as tall as the opposing Pokémon.

Rhyperior roared, looking displeased about the ineffectualness of its attack, and charged forwards. Steelhide roared in response and, at my command, began running as well, the plate on her head glowing brightly. Rhyperior seemed to be outlined by a reddish light, which confused me for a second. Then I realized what was happening and tried to call Steelhide off, but her forward momentum was too great.

Her Iron Head met Rhyperior's Counter in a brutal collision in the middle of the arena. A shockwave flew from the two Pokémon, startling everybody present. The pair were tussling, both of them trying to gain the upper hand. Rhyperior looked wounded, but Steelhide looked a tad worse. They swayed from side to side as they pushed against each other, occasionally stomping their feet to gain a better grip on the ground.

Realizing that this was getting nowhere, I shouted, "Steelhide, use Iron Tail!"

Steelhide roared in response and quickly threw herself on her back. Rhyperior, who apparently hadn't been expecting this, continued pushing forward, flying over the prone Pokémon. Steelhide's tail began to turn a bright white as she rolled to her feet, watching as Rhyperior skidded along the ground. Without waiting for her opponent to rise, she lumbered forwards, intent on ending the match there.

Rhyperior had other plans. It pushed itself to a crawling position and its arms began to shine. Then, just as Steelhide turned to hit it with her Iron Tail, it twisted, slamming its Hammer Arm into her side. They both let out roars of pain and fell away from each other. I didn't like the look of this. "C'mon, Steelhide, get up!"

Steelhide feebly tried to push herself up, but only managed to get up halfway. Rhyperior, on the other hand, had wearily gotten up and aimed its arm at the Steel-Rock Pokémon. A loud rumbling could be heard and I looked on in trepidation. An enormous boulder shot out of Rhyperior's hand, slamming into Steelhide and crushing her to the arena wall. The boulder fell to the ground, revealing the unconscious Pokémon. "The winner is Richard and his Rhyperior!"

"Okay," I said, nodding and recalling Steelhide. "It's one to one. We can do this!"

Richard threw his hand out, sending a Poké Ball flying through the air. After a bright flash of light, a six-limbed Pokémon nimbly landed on the field, grinning broadly. I nodded, knowing which Pokémon Machamp would want to fight. "Go, Jetstream!"

She bellowed in anticipation as she took through the air, looping and showing off. "While you're up there, use Fly!"

She nodded and plummeted downwards, looking like she was on a crash course with the ground. Then, just as she was about to hit the earth, she pulled out of her dive, speeding towards the waiting Machamp. It barely dodged the attack, leaping out of the way and causing the orange Pokémon to fly past. It grabbed ahold of the peculiar strings coming from her head and swung onto her neck, holding on tightly. She bellowed in response and began ascending again, swiftly leaving our line of vision.

"Use Wing Attack!" I screamed, hoping she would hear me. I looked at the giant television screen over the announcer's box, seeing as how the video cameras would be able to pick up the aerial fight. Jetstream was simultaneously climbing higher in the air and buffeting the Fighting Pokémon. Machamp was throwing a barrage of Ice Punches, half of which were turned aside by Jetstream's arms. They eventually stopped ascending and hung there, suspended in the air.

Machamp suddenly backflipped off of her, slamming an icy fist into her stomach and sending her some distance away. It then began to plummet to the earth, grinning victoriously. It fell for quite a while, spinning slowly as it descended. When it hit the ground, it landed on all sixes (think all fours, but with two extra limbs) and looking for all the world like an extremely muscular insect. It stood up in satisfaction, looking at the crater it had made.

What nobody expected was Jetstream to come down like an orange meteor, smashing into it and further deepening the crater. She lay there, her enormous belly rising and falling in exhaustion. After a moment, she let out a yelp as she was slowly lifted into the air. Machamp was using its legs and two of its arms to hold itself up and its remaining two arms to hold Jetstream above it. I stared in astonishment. There was no way those two should still be standing…

"Almost there, Jetstream," I managed. "Use Hyper Beam." The Dragon Pokémon nodded and curved her head downwards, a ball of energy forming in her mouth. Machamp looked up at her, staring evenly at the oncoming attack. Then, with its remaining strength, it threw her in the air, scrambling to avoid the attack. No good. The Hyper Beam struck it dead on, knocking it backwards and out.

"Aaaaaaand the winner is Ashley and her Dragonite, Jetstream!"

"Good girl Jetstream!" I shouted as she nearly collapsed in pain and fatigue. "Have a rest. It's your turn Cinder!"

When Cinder appeared, she took off in a warm-up lap around the arena. She skidded to a stop in front of my podium and roared out her challenge, causing the audience to cheer wildly. Richard shook his head in mock sadness as he threw out the Poké Ball I knew would contain Magneton. Or, it would normally contain Magneton. Instead, some butt-ugly cross between a Magneton and an alien spacecraft came out, beeping deeply.

"_Magnezone_," it droned, its three eyes slowly roving about the field. Well at least I know its name…

"Use Agility, Cinder!" I shouted, pointing slightly pointlessly (I crack myself up) at the sky. Cinder barked and began running around again, accelerating to the point where she nearly vanished from sight sometimes. Magnezone's three magnets began to glow white and spread out, which confused me slightly. Well, whatever attack was coming, it would have to wait until after… "Cinder, Flare Blitz now!"

Cinder nodded and turned sharply heading towards Magnezone, her body spouting large amounts of fire. Magnezone began to spin wildly, its body quickly becoming a blur. The two slammed into each other, grinding furiously against the other Pokémon. They pushed back and forth, each of them trying to gain the upper hand. (Time for an ill-placed comment about their lack of hands? …Nah.)

They flew apart, sliding along the ground. They looked like they were equally wounded, which was strange. No matter… "Use Flarethrower!" (My nickname for Flamethrower.)

Cinder opened her mouth, expelling a large burst of fire. Magnezone executed a neat barrel roll, its eyes beginning to glow oddly. The left and right ones had red and blue glows, respectively, while its middle eye shone yellow. I realized what was happening, but wasn't unduly concerned. "Focus on avoiding the Tri Attack by Digging!"

Cinder began burrowing as fast as she could, which barely wasn't fast enough. Magnezone's Tri Attack caught her tail, causing her to yelp in pain and dig even faster. She vanished in a shower of dirt; silence fell over everything. Magnezone decided to break the silence by beeping deeply and becoming outlined in yellow, rising above the ground. I groaned, knowing this would make the next attack completely useless.

True enough, when Cinder burst from the ground, Magnezone was high enough to completely avoid the attack. Cinder growled in irritation and bounded from the earth, flames licking her mouth. Magnezone responded by shooting a bolt of electricity through her, sending her back to the ground. She quickly rolled to her feet and dodged the next Thunderbolt, circling Magnezone warily. "Use another Flarethrower!"

Cinder shot out another burst of flames, this time hitting the opposing Pokémon. Magnezone screeched in pain, shooting out a large ball of electricity. The ball just _barely_ missed Cinder (though it did cause her fur to stand on end. She looked like a stuffed animal!) Cinder shook herself irritatedly, trying to rid herself of the static. Unfortunately, this gave enough time for Magnezone to launch off another Tri Attack, which hit Cinder.

"Let's end this, Cinder!" I shouted. "Use Overheat!"

Cinder howled and let loose an almighty blast of fire; Magnezone whirred and let loose a similarly powerful blast of electricity. The two attacks collided, fighting to stay in existence. Then like many battles before, they combined to form a large explosion that rocked the arena. I looked on fearfully, trying to see if either of them survived. Then the intensity of the explosion forced me to avert my eyes. "Cinder!"

A loud howl responded to my call. I looked up and saw her being borne by the blast, riding on top of the flames. I laughed and waved to her; she barked happily back to me. The flames dissipated, causing her to fall towards the ground. She landed awkwardly, buckling to one side. However, the sight of a charred, unconscious Magnezone caused me to cheer and throw my fist into the air. "Ashley wins again, this time with her Arcanine Cinder! She has three of the required matches, meaning that if Richard doesn't win the next two, she will be the winner!"

"Calm down, girl," I said to myself as I recalled the collapsed Fire Pokémon. "Just because you've made it this far doesn't mean you'll win. This is Richard you're battling. Never, ever let your guard down." Looking up, I extended the only Poké Ball remaining. (The epic Shellshock vs. Blaziken battle is obviously being saved for the end.) "Come on out, Wisteria!"

Wisteria stomped on the ground, roaring out her challenge. Richard threw out a Poké Ball that I would ordinarily think contained Dusclops, but with Richard's recent Pokémon, I wasn't sure what to expect. And, sure enough, a Pokémon that I had never seen before emerged. It stared menacingly at Wisteria, its single eye glowing slightly. It began chanting to itself, though unlike the lighthearted chanting of its previous evolutions, it sounded more like it was about to lay a curse on Wisteria. It gave me the creeps.

"Use Crunch," I managed. Wisteria, also looking slightly unnerved by this Pokémon, ran forwards, opening her mouth widely. Dusknoir closed its eye, concentrating hard on something. However, no attack came and Wisteria bounded up, sinking her teeth into Dusknoir's arm. Dusknoir paid her no attention. Instead, it remained in its meditative state, which surprised me.

"Crunch again!" Wisteria relinquished her hold on its arm and leapt toward its head. Suddenly, it seemed to wake up, putting its arm up to block. She bit down on the same arm, causing Dusknoir to grimace in pain. It put its other and to Wisteria's stomach and pushed. Wisteria flew backwards, looking significantly more damaged than she should. I slammed my hand onto the railing, trying my best to withhold a multitude of curses. I hate Pain Split…

"Use Disable," I commanded. "And follow it up with Shadow Claw!" Wisteria emitted a series of blue rings, which seemed to irritate Dusknoir. It threw up its hands, the zigzag across its stomach opening up like a mouth. It gave an otherworldly shriek, causing Wisteria to cower slightly in fear. It drifted up to her, drawing back a bluish-white fist. The Ice Punch sent her bouncing along on the ground, knocking her some distance away. She tried to get to her feet, but Dusknoir slammed the ground with its other hand, sending out an Earthquake to topple her again.

"You can do it!" I said, really wanting to beat this relentless Ghost Pokémon. Wisteria nodded and, bracing herself against the arena wall, launched forwards, her claws turning dark purple. Right before she reached it, however, its eye, hands, and antenna began to glow blue. She twisted around, scoring a deep hit, but was soon encased in a blue light. Dusknoir flicked its wrist and she was hurled through the air, crashing into the arena wall again.

"Try another Shadow Claw!" Wisteria wearily pushed herself to her feet, her claws turning purple again. She began charging, looking like she was about to pass out. Dusknoir turned and stared at Richard, its malevolent look melting away. Richard nodded, looking grimly on. He got out his Poké Ball and rested it on the railing. I frowned at this. He was never this presumptuous. Unless…

Wisteria had almost closed the distance between her and Dusknoir when suddenly she was assaulted by a hunk of psychic energy which had suddenly materialized. I looked at her in confusion. Another hunk slammed into her chin, knocking her onto her back. I cocked my head to the side, still trying to comprehend what had just happened. I don't know whether or not the announcer had seen my confusion, but his booming voice helped me out greatly. "And with that final Future Sight, Richard and Dusknoir are the winners! It's down to their final Pokémon. Will Ashley win? Or will Richard tie it up?"

_Future Sight_, I thought to myself as I recalled my unconscious Pokémon. I remembered Dusknoir meditating in the beginning. _So that's what it was doing_. "Let's go Shellshock! This is what we've been working for!"

I saw Richard nod at Blaziken as the Fire-Fighting Pokémon casually hopped the rail, landing lightly on the arena ground. Shellshock looked at me, flashing a fearless grin. Then something totally unexpected happened. Blaziken stalked forward, an odd mixture of happiness and lethality in it eyes. Shellshock stumped towards it, never wavering in the slightest. The two Pokémon met in the middle, staring into each other's eyes. They both reached out an arm and clapped each other on the shoulder. The crowds watched in astonishment as they nodded to each other and began walking back to their respective trainers. "I have never seen anything like it, folks!" the announcer shouted.

"Blaaaaaaastoooooooise," Shellshock boomed as he approached me.

"You want to wing this one?" I asked, making sure I had heard him correctly. When he dipped his head in response, I grinned and pointed at Blaziken. "Then have fun."

He roared, turning and facing Blaziken, who was lightly tapping the ground with its foot. The two Pokémon dropped into ready stances, knees slightly bent, arms held loosely at the sides, eyes on the opponent. I held my breath. The announcer held his breath. The audience held its breath. Richard leaned on the railing, staring downwards with interest. He never did act in expected ways…

Then, like they usually did, they began their attacks at the sound of some unheard bell. Blaziken ran forwards, pumping its arms and legs as fast as it could. Shellshock charged forwards with surprising speed, his shoulder cannons focusing on Blaziken. They were about to collide when Blaziken tripped, causing the audience to crow in surprise. But neither Shellshock nor I were fooled. Indeed, Blaziken rolled, then threw its feet forward in a powerful handspring, catching Shellshock in the gut and lifting him from the ground. Blaziken landed on its feet and shot into the air, where it spun and kicked hard, sending Shellshock crashing into one of the stadium's massive light fixtures.

Luckily, the lights were off as it was the middle of the day, so Shellshock, apart from being winded and momentarily stunned, suffered no permanent damage. Blaziken stared at him, its raptor gaze never letting up in the slightest. Shellshock roared as he cleared his head. Turning, he stood on one of the shattered lights and faced the lights. "What is that Blastoise doing?" the announcer shouted. "It couldn't be-"

Whatever the announcer was going to say was cut off as Shellshock roared and shot the fixture with both of his shoulder cannons, propelling himself into the air. Everybody clapped appreciatively as he spun, focusing his cannons onto Blaziken far below. He began his aerial bombardment, shooting powerful blasts indiscriminately. Blaziken began sprinting, easily weaving between the attacks. I knew that it could easily jump up and attack Shellshock if it wanted to, but that would probably leave it open to the powerful water cannons.

Shellshock landed on the floor with a groundshaking crash, but Blaziken didn't stumble in the slightest. Instead, it darted forwards, accelerating as it sped towards Shellshock. Shellshock tucked his head in and twisted his cannons so that they were facing the ground behind him. He shot off two blasts of water, sending him careening forwards. Blaziken, caught off guard, received the full effect of the blow and was sent spinning in the air.

Nobody really expected it to stay still, however, and indeed it didn't. It threw a hand-claw-thing down and snagged the ground, using it to stop its momentum and plowing a deep furrow in the ground. It then ran forwards, vanishing into the crater Jetstream and Machamp had made. It used the curve of the hole to launch itself into the air, peppering Shellshock with a fiery aerial attack of its own.

Shellshock aimed carefully and sent two bursts of water in Blaziken's direction. Imagine everybody's surprise when Blaziken opened its mouth and shot forth a burst of water as well! The audience roared in shock; Blastoise and I stared in amazement. True, the blast didn't cancel out the attack, but when it met Shellshock's blasts of water, it slammed into them, slowing them down to a full stop. Blaziken was propelled backwards until it hit another light fixture, where it jumped out of harm's way and let the Hydro Pump shoot harmlessly past.

"What an impressive Mirror Move!" the announcer shouted, apparently the only one who knew that was going on. I turned my attention back to Blaziken who was leaping from light fixture to light fixture. Shellshock shot blast after blast at it, occasionally demolishing Blaziken's foothold an instant after the Pokémon had left from it. Eventually, Blaziken hopped down onto the roof of the announcing station and bounded off, twisting to avoid the water aimed at it (though the gigantic television screen was shot clear through the center). It plummeted down, extending its arms above its head to streamline its body.

Shellshock let out a roar and sidestepped, causing Blaziken to form another, smaller crater in the ground. Blaziken crouched for a split second to rid itself of its excess momentum, then stood up straight, assaulting Shellshock with its fists and feet. Shellshock gave as good as he got, throwing a few punches of his own and belching water out of his mouth. The speed of Blaziken's limbs accelerated; soon, they were merely four fiery blurs. Shellshock had to retreat into his shell to avoid the blows.

Undeterred, Blaziken hauled the Water Pokémon above its head, spinning Shellshock around. After a few moments of this, it tossed Shellshock into the air and dropped to its back, propping itself up on its elbows. It shot out both feet, connecting hard with Shellshock's shell and launching him into the air yet again. Springing to its feet, it leapt into the air, swiftly meeting him at the apex of his flight.

Shellshock then landed the strongest hit of the fight. Though Blaziken easily used his shell to loop around him and bombard him from all sides, Shellshock aimed his cannons earthwards, gathering as much power as he could. Blaziken was swinging across his head to nail his chin when he released his water, scoring two direct hits upon Blaziken. Blaziken's face contorted in pain as it slammed into the ground, creating yet another crater. Shellshock fell slowly at first, but quickly gathered speed. Everybody (except Richard of course) held their breath again as he fell.

Blaziken managed to push itself out of the crater just as Shellshock landed, sparing it an immediate knock out. They both lay there for a moment, then slowly rose to their feet. They wandered dazedly away from each other, trying to gain their bearings. After they were separated by a good stretch of battle-scarred land, they turned and stared tiredly at each other.

They both inhaled and gathered their breath for one last attack. Shellshock rotated his cannons and tucked in his head, aiming for one final Skull Bash. Blaziken began sprouting familiar tiny balls of light, hoping to land one last Reversal. They gathered their remaining bits of energy, then began their attack. Blaziken sprinted at an unparalleled speed, its fist drawn back. Shellshock blasted off, retreating into his shell for maximum speed.

Blaziken's fist connected with Shellshock's head. For a moment, nothing happened. Then a massive shockwave rent the arena; Richard and I fell backwards. Blaziken was thrown into my podium and Shellshock was thrown into Richard's, instantly demolishing both podiums. I let out a cry of shock as I fell to the ground, debris raining down around me. A cloud of dust surrounded me, blinding me from the world.

"Whoahoho, folks! Who is the winner?" the announcer's voice came. Nursing my aching head, I stumbled to my feet and looked around. The dust was settling, revealing Blaziken draped across the piles of rubble. Looking across, I saw that Shellshock was also unconscious. Richard was looking at the two Pokémon, a grin making its way across his face.

"I won…" I whispered, falling to my knees in shock. "I won."

"Wow!" the announcer shouted. "Both Blaziken and Shellshock the Blastoise have been knocked out! Ashley is the winner with three wins, two losses, and one tie!"

The crowd went absolutely wild, screaming and stomping their feet. I was still staring at the ground when a loud roar caught my attention. Shellshock was pushing himself to his feet, bellowing as loudly as he could. I frowned, knowing that there was no way he hadn't been knocked out. But the moment I saw Richard try to act innocent, I knew what happened. So, in return, I popped a Revive in Blaziken's mouth. Just to be nice.

After a moment, Blaziken stood up, stretching its battered limbs and nodding. It looked proudly at me, not a hint of defeat in its eyes. I looked across the arena, where Richard and Shellshock were making their way towards me. I glanced up at Blaziken, who nodded and started towards the crater in the middle. Ignoring the ballistic crowds and ecstatic commentators, we made our way around the rubble, scorch marks, and craters that littered the battlefield.

Then, we met in the middle. I don't know if the audience actually went quiet or if it was just me, but where we were, it was dead silent. We stared at each other, each reveling in the moment. I jumped forwards, grabbing Shellshock in a great big hug. "You were magnificent!"

"Blaaaaaaaastooooooooise," he boomed back at me, encircling me in a hug of his own.

We stayed like that for a moment, then I turned to Richard. He didn't look at all sorry or upset that he had lost. Instead, he only looked proud of me for winning. His green eyes sparkled and his brown hair rustled in the warm winds that blew by us. His grin warmed my heart, making me feel safer than I ever had before. Hesitantly, I took a step towards him. Grinning even more broadly, he opened his (admittedly quite tan and muscular, in a lean sort of way) arms. I rushed to embrace him and there was truly nobody, except for us four, on this planet.

Then, I heard something. Two simple words that would stick with me until the day I die. Richard leaned in and, in a breathy voice, whispered into my ear.

"Good job."

* * *

Waah! I couldn't let Ashley lose after all... Well, read and review! I'm thinking about writing an epilogue and I'd like to know if popular consensus approves of this.


	9. Final Steps And Some New Ones Too!

And, finally, the last installment of Silent Rivalry, by yours truly, has arrived. Thank you, all of you loyal fans! Though I can't help but notice that none of you buggers bothered to review the final battle. Oh well...

As you can see, I have written an epilogue. I grew bored during these summer days (and it is actually the season summer, now) and decided to write it, reviews or not. Be thankful, for I may not be so gracious in the future...

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.

* * *

The next few weeks were pretty hectic for me. Richard bid me farewell (which was really depressing) but Blaziken told Shellshock who told me that they'd be back eventually. As a promise. So, I cheerfully (like heck) waved as Richard and Blaziken sailed away into the horizon on Gyarados' back. And so, my waiting began.

Well, seeing as there was no way that I was just gonna sit around moping all day, I decided to visit the Gyms on the flipside of the continent, in Johto. 'Course, I was summoned back to Indigo Plateau each time a challenger wanted to face the Champion, which was a pain in the butt. Jetstream got really strong just ferrying me back and forth. Luckily, as I was practically tied with the strongest trainer in the world (Richard and I both know that our battles are also based on luck), I always won.

Anyways, after I had beaten Falkner with Sparky and Bugsy with Cinder, the oddest thing happened to me. I woke up like I always do, but in my hotel room in Goldenrod City, completely unaware of what was going to happen. I showered, I ate breakfast, and all that stuff. But just as I exited the hotel, I was nearly squished by an enormous white and green blob. After swearing to myself and looking around, I saw a large Snorlax staring down at me hungrily. It reached for something behind it, which was reason enough for me to put my hand to my belt.

Imagine my surprise when it extended its paw downwards and the cutest little Igglybuff stared up at me, cooing softly. After nearly losing control over myself because of how cute it was, I asked if the Pokémon was for me. The Snorlax nodded and grumbled something that I couldn't understand. After getting Shellshock outside of his Poké Ball, he was able to translate "from Richard." I nodded and laughed, seeing as how it seemed like something Richard would do.

But, unfortunately, I didn't have room for either Pokémon on me. Luckily, I had recently acquired a large mansion on the cliffs between New Bark Town and Pallet Town (being Champion is quite a profitable business) and moved my family there. So, Snorlax and Igglybuff went to the mansion, where they would theoretically be cared for and loved.

So now, along with my trips to Indigo Plateau, my journeying through Johto was also interrupted by my visits to my new Pokémon. But I didn't care. The fact that Richard had sent me anything at all was enough to lighten my spirits for a long while. Heck, when I was facing Whitney and Morty, I almost lost my concentration several times. But, time moved on and no word from Richard ever reached my ears.

But, about a month later, when I was in Ecruteak City and about to leave for my Indigo Plateau duties, I was rudely knocked to the ground by a large object behind me. I turned around to see a Metagross floating contentedly above the ground, a Seel peeking down at me from aboard its head. Shellshock prevented me from pulverizing the pair by informing me that this was another gift from Richard. After realizing this, I became elated. And, regrettably, they had to be sent back to the mansion.

I understood that Richard was going to be sending me Pokémon, but I didn't quite realize how he was doing such a thing. But since I didn't really care about that part, I focused more on when the Pokémon would be arriving. I figured that since the previous pair of pairs (I still crack myself up) had come a month apart, the next pair would also come a month later. Sure enough, five weeks later, when I was about to fight Jasmine, a Vulpix and an Aerodactyl appeared in front of me.

So, from then on, I was looking forward to the monthly gift of Pokémon, one cute and sunggly Pokémon and one tough, battle-hardened Pokémon. A month after that came a Pichu and a Scizor. After that, was a Skitty and a hulking Tyrannitar (I have no idea how the two got along until they got to me). Four weeks later, an Azurill and a Honchkrow. By that time, I had beaten all of the Johto Gym Leaders, but Champion-battling requests came flooding in. Everybody was clamoring to beat the practically undefeated Champion, but unfortunately I had to send the little tykes packing. I couldn't let Richard come back and see that I had lost.

As if to reinforce this fact, I eventually got a request from Richard's parents to turn on the TV. I did so and saw the triumphant Trainer standing beside a cool Blaziken. Apparently he was being accepted as the Champion of a region called Hoenn. He smiled at the camera and waved, looking eager to get out of the lights and crowds. Never one for being the center of attention, but he always liked looking awesome, even if it involved falling off of a ten-story building…

Anyway, I went back to my mansion so I could interact with my Pokémon, and my family (I guess), as I pleased. The League kept summoning me, but soon after I erupted at the Elite Four and told them to buck up and weed out the weaklings, the number of battles drastically diminished. Almost like he was rewarding my self-serving efforts, a Natu and a Golem appeared on my doorstep that month.

The next month, I was far less amused. On April Fools' Day, I woke up to find a Wurmple staring curiously at my face. After letting out a shriek that even Richard could probably hear, I sat up so fast that it sent the insect flying. If not for the Gengar floating at the other side of the room, I might have knocked the little bugger out. I vowed to kill Richard for that, so it wasn't until it evolved into Silcoon and then Beautifly that I forgave him.

Anyway, the next months' gifts went back to the usual routine. I got a Natu and a Golem, then an Eevee and a Hondoom, an adorable Smoochum and an Absol, and then a Ralts and a Salamence. But I could barely contain my excitement for the twelfth month. Surely he would send something special for that the anniversary of his departure. And send something he did.

It started out like a regular day. I was outside on the lawn near the cliff edge when I got a message from the security guards (you can never be too careful these days). It seems like the wall was smashed down in two separate places and the intruders were well on their way. I leapt to my feet and summoned my six main Pokémon. Jetstream circled in the sky, bellowing defiantly. Steelhide cracked her knuckles, stomping her feet on the ground aggressively. Cinder howled, startling the nearby Hondoom into joining her. Wisteria merely stood there, looking ready for whatever might come for her. Sparky was running excitedly around, anticipating the fight to come. And Shellshock roared loud and long, his shoulder cannons shooting warning shots into the sky.

Chaos. That's the only way I can describe what happened in the next few moments. Shellshock was bowled over by some red flash. Something large and blue erupted from a twister that had mysteriously formed over the ocean and bowled into Sparky. Wisteria let out a similar yelp as she began levitating into the air, surrounded by a faint blue energy. Cinder let out a yelp as she vanished over the edge of the cliff. Steelhide didn't make a sound because she was sucked underground so fast. And Jetstream came from the sky like a meteor, something grey wrapped around her like a vice.

After looking around in panic, a loud peal of laughter drifted through the air. I turned to the cliffs to see Richard gliding slowly up on his Magnezone. His hair and his clothes fluttered majestically in the wind and he wore a proud grin on his face. Cinder was curled up around his feet, lying there contentedly. He stepped onto solid ground spread his arms wide, and braced himself. Good thing he did, too, otherwise I'd have knocked us both off the edge.

Anyway, after hugging him for what seemed like forever (and maybe breaking a few ribs as well), I turned around and looked at the sight in front of me. Blaziken and Shellshock were wrestling and smiling at each other, happy to be reunited once again. Sparky and Gyarados were actually fighting, seemingly determined to take out the other one. Wisteria settled back down on the ground and glared humorously at Dusknoir, which had just appeared behind her. Steelhide and Rhyperior emerged from the earth, growling at each other like old chums. Machamp stood up, but was quickly knocked to the ground again by Jetstream's wings.

Smiling at the scene, I looked up (is it just me or did he grow?) into Richard's eyes contentedly. He merely smiled and hugged me, pressing something, or rather some_things_, into my face. Frowning, I stepped back and looked at the medals against his chest. One was for being former Kanto/Johto Champion and one was for being the Champion of Hoenn. I recognized those. I did not recognize the other two, which, upon further exanimation, turned out to be the medal for being Shinnoh Champion and being Pokémon Master. Squealing happily, I wrapped him in another bonecrushing hug. Wincing slightly, he nevertheless laughed again. I could last forever just listening to his laugh…

* * *

Sarah giggled as she put down the diary. She knew she shouldn't be reading it, but it was just so funny! She had been hiding in the attic one day and had stumbled upon the dusty and forgotten book. And so, every night, she had spent an hour or so just reading it, laughing, gasping, or applauding in the right places. Quietly of course. She didn't want to be caught.

"Sarah!" her mother called. "Where are you?"

"Chik-!" Sarah's Chikorita, Leaf Blade, began before Sarah clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Do you want her to find us?" she whispered.

Leaf Blade shook her head, mischief dancing in her eyes. Sarah nodded and crouched behind the crates, trying to be invisible. She heard footsteps and tried to be as silent as possible. She even thought silent thoughts, just in case her parents could read her mind. Sometimes, her father seemed like he could. It was scary.

Suddenly, she realized that she and Leaf Blade were floating a good distance from the ground. They both let out yelps, trying in vain to swim through the dusty air. She looked around, her eyes falling upon two hands outlined in the darkness by a faint blue light. The hands moved, causing Sarah and Leaf Blade to float towards the stairs. There, her father was staring up at her, his hands casually stuffed inside his pockets.

"Hi Daddy," Sarah said meekly.

Her father slowly walked up the stairs, looking hard at his daughter. He cocked his head to the side as he caught sight of the book in her arms. Sarah, knowing she was busted, held out the book for him to see. "It's Mommy's diary. I found it a few weeks ago when I was playing hide and seek with some of the Pokémon."

Reaching out, her father plucked the book from her hands and started cautiously at it. His eyes hardened and he glanced up at the floating girl. "Please don't tell Mommy?"

Her father stared at her for another second, then grinned like a little boy and scampered up the rest of the steps. He ran over to the corner where she had hidden her flashlight and blanket for nighttime reading, plopping down lightly. He winked at her and opened the book. His Dusknoir let the poor girl down and she rushed over to him, clambering into his lap. Sarah started lightly as a lithe shape landed right next to them, but as soon as it flared up, she saw that it was only her father's Blaziken. And so, by the light of the Fire-Fighting Pokémon behind them, they began to read together.

"'_For the last time, Ashley, get up!'_"

* * *

The story's been told  
Praise Ashley, Richard. Review!  
By Sir Gar the Bold


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